Director Management and Director Duties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Director Management and Director Duties - Essay Example The Act also ensures that all the directors are well equipped with the accurate information about all the decisions made and are aware of every step that they decide to take up. Also, the act helps in protecting the directors from the pressures of the shareholders and helps the directors concentrate on the long-term goals. A detailed explanation of the various duties has been included and further research recommendations have been suggested as well. The Companies Act has been in use for over a hundred and fifty years. This has been designed to provide companies with a framework within which companies with limited liability are required to work within. The Companies Act was replaced on 8th November 2006, which was updated, modernized and rewritten version of the company law. The changes in the act, however, are to be implemented in the number of different phases and this would end by October 2009. However, before moving onto the duties of directors of listed companies, it is essential to understand what listed companies are. Listed companies are companies whose shares are quoted on the stock exchange for public trading. Thus duties of directors in these companies are very important and it is essential that these are well understood and followed as well. A number of concerns have been raised in the past concerning the director’s and their duties (Financial reporting council, 2009). It is important to note here that there w ere a number of concerns about the directors having to face increased administrative work due to changes in the law, however the Ministerial Statements have clearly explained this as, â€Å"The words ‘have regard to’ mean ‘think about’; they are absolutely not about just ticking boxes. If thinking about’ leads to the conclusion, as we believe it will in many cases, that the proper course is to act positively  to achieve the objectives in the clause, that will be what the director’s duty is. In other words ‘have regard to’ means ‘give proper consideration to’† (Chivers, 2007).

WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War Essay

WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War - Essay Example Although there is an uneasy balance in the power relationship between individual states and the federal government, it seems the federal government gained an upperhand in the power equation. The First World War (or WWI) started for no apparent or obvious reasons although it was believed the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria triggered it. This war started in 1914 and lasted until 1918 and it was originally mostly a European affair. This war later on became global and America, although leaning towards isolationsm, soon found it got involved in it on the side of the Allies or Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia against the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and later on, also Italy). It was the age of imperialism and colonization where countries vied for foreign territories and America entered the war supposedly to safeguard the democratic ideals it espouses but in real terms, America entered a period of its own imperialist ambitions. The federal government grew stronger in this period because of its Manifest Destiny polical doctrine (OSullivan 426). This was a time when America acquired several foreign territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines (in the 1898 Spanish-American War) after it had previously acquired vast territories formerly belonging to Mexico such as Texas, Illinois, Colorado, California, and Arizona. All these territorial acquisitions required a strong federal government for these actions to push through in Congress and in conduct of foreign policy. The expansionist strategy of America was soon followed by the Great Depression in 1929 that was started by a stock market crash on October 29, 1929 but later engulfed an entire world as assets prices collapsed. American citizens lost their life savings while the nations big wealth invested in its stock markets evaporated as panic ensued among the