DIRECTORS DUTIES

Director's duties



Abstract

The aim of this paper was to analyze if director's duties set out in the company law hinder Ireland entrepreneurial pursuits inside corporations. It has become rather clear that the major challenge facing our nation as the next century approaches is to ensure country's competitiveness in the world economy. To this end, gratuitous intervention in the affairs of business is to be avoided.

Table Of Content

Abstract2

Introduction4

Discussion4

Directors' duties, company law and entrepreneurial pursuits4

Willingness of Directors to Take Risk8

Conclusion9

References10

Director's duties

Introduction

An Irish government may see entrepreneurship as: (i) having a high social value worthwhile of being encouraged; or (ii) an unnecessary or neutral activity which does not need specific policy; or (iii) an activity undertaken by actors who are not bona fide and whose motives are suspect.

 

Discussion

Irish Company law actually says not anything about controller selection, very little about their appointment terms and almost not anything on the operation of company boards. As a result, much of this depends on historic practice in the Ireland.(Whincop, 2005)

Directors' duties, company law and entrepreneurial pursuits

These days, established/large enterprises have to deal with two major challenges: a) responding to the technological and global challenges of rapidly changing markets, and b) their own internal, often inflexible and bureaucratic structures, which lead to slow decision-making or the inability to adapt to new situations easily? In alignment to hold up their survival, development and success, enterprises require to be innovative and creative (over and over) for long-run success. Entrepreneurial behavior is considered to be one of the most promising ways out of these situations.  

The board of directors and the management play an important function in the cultivation of CE. Therefore the senior management needs special personality characteristics (independence and self-efficacy) as well as abilities (to size opportunities or to learn from failures) to lead corporate entrepreneurship. Additionally, the manager must either have the enthusiastic sense of new opportunities or has to be under pressure to generate the new business. This was indicated by Allen (1988) when examining 8 large firms in Europe and the USA as well as by Stopford & Baden-Fuller (1994) when investigating 10 large manufacturing firms in Europe. Although CE always results from the top-down initiative originating from and facilitated by the head(s) of the company, it is the middle-level managers who approve of, advance, and direct the opportunities, and recognise, obtain, and apply the resources required to turn them into success. The entrepreneurial behavior of middle-level managers can really be seen as essential to successful CE. Upper management determines the vision for the entrepreneurial strategy, to which middle managers and the other employees adhere. Middle managers use productive communication and rewards to generate trust and the social capital required for CE. CE seems to be best realized through management engagement and support, the motivation of peak management, work discretion/autonomy, reinforcement, time availability and organizational boundaries, and rewards. This is also supported by existing research, which also identifies autonomy and resource availability as additional stimulants of ...