Author Description

Directors are key decision-makers in any organisation, whether it is in the public sector, a family business or a transnational company. The UK Companies Act 2006 codified directors' duties for the first time and describes the director as the 'most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole'. This book addresses key tensions and problems involved in the duties and responsibilities of the director in promoting success, including corporate culture and credibility, trust, risk and uncertainty, collective responsibility, and the degree of control. The book considers directors' decision-making in both private and public sector organisations and explicitly examines aspects of decision-making when organisations are in, or close to, financial distress. Whilst mostly rooted in UK law, the book draws on the company law in other jurisdictions including the USA, Germany and Australia. The book makes use of an interdisciplinary approach, using management theory, economic theory and other areas such as behavioural studies to look at both what directors should do and what they actually do. In doing so, it addresses issues key to the understanding of corporate governance, especially in light of the recent financial crisis.