Company directors

Harmsen [4] points out that there are several views with which one can look at sustainable development. One view is the theocratic view, prominent in Judeo-Christian religion in which the Creator stands central and needs to be honored and served by man. Nature is trusted to man, who should take care of it, while Technology should help him and simplify his task. Man assumes this responsibility, much as a steward of property and capital does. This is the same role as the one many responsible company directors play The interest of the company should be served and is central in one s performance and behavior toward the company. This view is to some extent expressed in a moving way by the text on the statue of the Japanese-American environmentalist Yasui Minoru in Denver s Sakura Center "We are all put on this earth to leave it a better place for our having been there."... 

Dorothy Hall15 was born on 20 March 1920 in Walthamstow. Daughter of F. H. Hall, a company director, she was educated at Wanstead County High School. She followed the same path as Jamieson, with a B.Sc. at Bedford in 1941, and completed a Ph.D. with Turner in 1944. Again, like Jamieson, she was promoted first to Assistant Lecturer, then Lecturer, and finally to a Readership in 1957. Hall was author or co-author of 32 publications, mostly with Turner, and a few with Lesslie or Jamieson as co-authors. She married Michael Hargreaves on 21 December 1957 and had one son. Hall retired in the mid-1980s. 

Governance theory suggests that directors may be selected for their ability to provide access to needed resources and information from the external environment (Daily et al., 1999). Board members play the primary role of making information from the external environment available to the company. Directors are valued for their connections and reputations related to sustainable development. One key resource that may be of value to enable a company to become a leader in sustainable development may be the access a director has to others who are knowledgeable about, and committed to, sustainable development in other organizations. 

Between 1933 and 1938 the situaton of Jewish employees in a company depended to a large extent on the behavior of the company director. The director s room for maneuver was eliminated only in 1938, when pressures from the National Socialist state and party could no longer be resisted. Fritz Gajewski, who was head of Sparte III (Division III) of I.G. Farben, had been director of the Filmfabrik Wolfen since 1930. ... 

As the Bond Legacy entered the 90s, small studio productions of the various novels and short stories popped up like mushrooms after rain. A host of production companies, directors, and actors hied through the Bond turnstile, handing out more and more outre interpretations. The nostalgia for the Cold War, perverse as it seemed, offered a fertile period for the last of the superspies. The wear and tear on the originak began to show by the turn of the century, and if new Bond adventures were to be hlmed they would necessarily have to be based on new material. 

Actual prosecution of principal contractors following safety failures is also, on occasion, a force for safety, for it can raise in the minds of company directors the possibility that they may be personally prosecuted for breaches of the legislation or even for manslaughter. According to one constmction company safety officer 1 spoke with, this fear of personal liability was a significant factor in safety improvements which occurred following a constmction collapse and associated prosecution. 

On the other hand, Joao Fanha, a company director and senior engineer who heads the customer experience department handling over 2 million clients of a major telecommunications company, comments that although he rarely has direct contact with end-users, he is, however, responsible 24/7 for their experience with the company s products and expects to be called if there is a major emergency, regardless of the day or hour. 

In an attempt to address some of these problems, the HSC produced guidance in 2001 on the safety duties of company directors. Each director and the board, acting collectively, will be expected to provide health and safety leadership in the organization. The board will need to ensure that all its decisions reflect its health and safety intentions and that it engages the workforce actively in the improvement of health and safety. The board will also be expected to keep itself informed of changes in health and safety risks. (See Chapter 3 for more details on directors responsibilities.)... 

If directors allow a company to continue to incm debts when they know or should have known that the company will be unable to repay them, a court can make them personally liable for the company s debts. This means that company directors should keep themselves aware of the company s financial position. There are also certain other, less likely circumstances in which directors can be made responsible for a company s debts, for which more specialist works should be consulted. 

In software development particularly, a crucial part of keeping effective workers content is a system where they can be promoted without having to become managers. At Microsoft a talented software developer can stay just that and yet rise to the top tier of elite architects . These architects are not company directors despite their seniority, but report to the chief executive on an irrformal basis. 

In the Crown Court there is no maximum fine. Up to two years imprisonment may be imposed for breach of a prohibition or improvement notice or remedy order or contravening a licence requirement. HSC Enforcement Policy includes a statement that wherever appropriate enforcing authorities should seek disqualification of directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. Disqualification is possible on conviction for an indictable offence in connection with the management of a company . In a health and safety context disqualification could follow conviction xmder s. 37 HSW because a company s offence was committed with a director s/manager s consent, connivance or attributable to his neglect (or xmder s. 36 if it is a manager whose default caused the offence of another). 

Petmell, R.C. and Adrian, S.L. (2002), Directors Rights and Responsibilities, Company Director Manual, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Thomson, Kew Legal and Regulatory. 

The intervention took place within a company in the textile sector and intends to respond to a request made by the Human Resources Department of the company. In fact, during the time the request was made, this Department was concerned about the low rate of use of hearing protection in some of the areas of production and its repercussions for the health of exposed workers. Note, however, that the request for action arose from the area of Human Resources and not from the Company Director. The company was founded about 30 years ago and had about 650 workers. 51 workers participated in the intervention because all of them were exposed to noise levels above 85 dB, which mainly affects the areas of dyeing and weaving. 

A coroner s inquest into the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise returned a verdict of unlawful killing. Many of the victims families made it clear they wished to see the Townsend Thoresen company directors (now part of P O) face prosecution but due to the existing legal framework it was not possible in this particular case. 

The Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 can be applied to health and safety breaches, as a Disqualification Order can be made against anyone convicted of an indictable offence connected with. .. the running of a company . 

Directors should be compensated in proportion to the time they are required to serve in meetings on company business. This is often accomplished by paying a retainer plus a fee for each meeting attended the board chair and committee chairs often receive an additional retainer. In some small companies, director compensation is paid in the form of stock options, thereby avoiding direct cash outlays. 

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