a) Compare and contrast the position of the US and UK rules/codes of Corporate Governance relating to the roles of CEO and Chairman. (10%)
In the U.S., corporate governance is determined predominantly by legislation in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX") and detailed regulations which SOX required the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and NASDAQ to draw up. In UK there is the combined code followed and named as The UK Corporate Governance Code (Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, 2014).
In the above mentioned codes of both UK and US, the chairman leads the board, sets the board agenda and ensures there is effective working group …show more content…
(20%)
In March 2008, Sir Stuart Rose was promoted to be Executive Chairman as well as hold the CEO of Marks & Spencer. This board’s decision does not comply with the corporate governance code which the Executive Chairman position and CEO should be separated. But some could argue that this appointment might help to improve the governance of Marks & Spencer.
The CEO, as the manager of the corporation, has a superior knowledge of the operations of the business. When that role is unified with his role as Chairman of the Board, one person occupying both of these roles may better be able to lead the corporation and to identify any problems that may arise. This can provide superior knowledge to the board and increase the information available to it leading to better decision making (Stockham, 2013).
Combining both CEO and Chairman, creates efficiency by allowing the unified executive to operate in both capacities at once. The other board members can have confidence that their Chairman/CEO is fully aware of the corporation’s strengths and weaknesses, along with what issues need to be addressed moving forward. Hence leads to improvement of governance of the company. (Stockham, …show more content…
In particular, it involves examining appropriate constraints on the pursuit of self-interest, or (for firms) profits, when the actions of individuals or firms affects others. Ethics is critical in the sense of having to do with examining and critiquing various moral beliefs and practices. Ethics is structured in the sense that it’s not just about having an opinion about how people should behave. Ethics involves attempting, at least, to find higher-order principles and theories in an attempt to rationalize and unify our diverse moral beliefs (MacDonald,