Corporate Purpose: A Management Concept and its Implications for Company Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-189
Author(s):  
Holger Fleischer
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Dual Purpose ◽  
The Us ◽  
Management Concept ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Purpose Clauses ◽  
Policy Proposals ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Abstract Many companies have recently been following the so-called corporate purpose concept that is recommended by leading management scholars. To this end, they identify a raison d’être for their enterprise that goes beyond mere profit making and they anchor it in the entire value chain. This paper puts the corporate purpose concept into perspective by linking it to the larger debate on corporate social responsibility and by outlining its theoretical foundations and practical application. It then goes on by explaining how this management concept fits into the company law framework, looking to France and the UK as well as to the US and Germany. Finally, this paper assesses various policy proposals made by leading purpose proponents, ranging from mandatory purpose clauses in the articles of association to say-on-purpose shareholder voting and dual-purpose business organisations.

scholarly journals REGULATORY COMPETITION IN PARTNERSHIP LAW

2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias M Siems
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Limited Liability ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Regulatory Competition ◽  
The Us ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Limited Partnerships ◽  
Limited Liability Partnership

AbstractRegulatory competition in company law has been extensively debated in the last few decades, but it has rarely been discussed whether there could also be regulatory competition in partnership law. This article fills this gap. It addresses the partnership law of the US, the UK, Germany, and France, and presents empirical data on the different types of partnerships and companies established in these jurisdictions. The main focus is on the use of a limited liability partnership (LLP) outside its country of origin. It is also considered whether some regulatory competition can take place in the law of limited partnerships.

scholarly journals Educating Bankers on Law, Ethics and Social Values: A Perspective from the US, the UK and Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Demetra Arsalidou
Keyword(s):  
Best Interests ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Financial Products ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Us ◽  
Future Leaders ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Short Termism

The paper questions how global businesses can alter their attitudes to make them more ethical and transparent. It examines three causes of a financial catastrophe that are linked to bankers’ attitudes and mindsets: bankers’ excessive greed that leads them to fall into ruinous temptations such as securitisation and short-termism, bankers’ behavioural limitations such as overconfidence and over optimism and finally bankers’ ignorance of financial products. The paper then considers an alternative model to confronting bankers’ deficiencies that is more sustainable in the long run: the tool of education. When there is so much disapproval of companies for their lack of corporate social responsibility, education can help significantly. Its role is three-fold: First, it can alert future leaders of the positives of acting selflessly and for socially responsible goals. Second, it can teach them of what the law actually says: that they must promote the company’s best interests – and not the shareholders’ short-term interests – a matter frequently ignored within business practice. Finally, via education future leaders can learn a thing or two about the behavioural weaknesses often characterising people in high executive positions; they can also learn about the risks of showing poor judgment and unfamiliarity with a business’ financial nuances and related risks. These ‘educational measures’ can help restore integrity back into banking whilst underlining the weight of ethics-based corporate cultures.

scholarly journals Company incorporation regimes in the UK, the US and Australia – In search of the golden mean

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Badar Mohammed Almeajel Alanazi
Keyword(s):  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Regulatory Measures ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Uk

The purpose of the law on incorporation has been heavily contested by academics. On one side of the debate are scholars who argue that company law should have an “enabling” role, in that it should empower business owners to arrange their affairs in a manner that best suits their purposes at the same time as minimising any interference from the state. On the other side of the debate are those who argue that company law should impose on the world of commerce strong regulatory measures to prevent such abuses. This conflict between the “enabling” and the “regulatory” role of company incorporation law is visible in many jurisdictions, with each of them achieving a different balance between the two approaches. Many scholarly studies have elaborated on how companies are incorporated and regulated. Some of them have been used in the current paper such as studies carried out by Bayern et al. (2017) and Reyes (2018). However, this paper examines the extent to which the incorporation regimes in the UK, the US, and Australia can be said to be “enabling” or “regulatory” in nature, through a detailed analysis of the law on company incorporation, ownership structure and the protection provided to the relevant stakeholders through the principles of separate legal personality.

scholarly journals The Responsibilities of Carbon Major Companies: Are They (and Is the Law) Doing Enough?

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Shareholder Wealth ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Wealth Maximization ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Shareholder Wealth Maximization ◽  
Royal Dutch Shell ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corporate Social

AbstractTransnational carbon major companies are responsible for over 30% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions and exert tremendous influence over future global climate trajectories. Yet, they are not governed through top-down, stringent emissions limits, but are instead regulated largely by disclosure-only domestic requirements and market-based or voluntary corporate social responsibility mechanisms. Through an examination of the requirements of domestic laws such as the United Kingdom (UK) Climate Change Act 2008 and the UK Energy Act 2013, as well as the environmental and sustainability reports produced under the UK Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013, this article analyzes the regulatory requirements placed on carbon majors, and the climate change pledges and emissions of five UK-based carbon majors: BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, National Grid, and Centrica. The article concludes that the efforts to curb emissions in these carbon major entities are being subverted by company law, company theory and commercial norms such as shareholder wealth maximization.

‘To see oursels as ithers see us’: Reflections on Scottish Independence from the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Hague ◽  
Alan Mackie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scottish Diaspora

The United States media have given rather little attention to the question of the Scottish referendum despite important economic, political and military links between the US and the UK/Scotland. For some in the US a ‘no’ vote would be greeted with relief given these ties: for others, a ‘yes’ vote would be acclaimed as an underdog escaping England's imperium, a narrative clearly echoing America's own founding story. This article explores commentary in the US press and media as well as reporting evidence from on-going interviews with the Scottish diaspora in the US. It concludes that there is as complex a picture of the 2014 referendum in the United States as there is in Scotland.

Incidence of Stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises of Santa Marta

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (62) ◽  
pp. 3-19
Author(s):  
Guillen León ◽  
Sergio Afcha
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The City

This article analyses the perception and application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in a sample of 499 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the city of Santa Marta (Colombia) following the theory of Stakeholders. Specifically, the interdependence technique of exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the most influential Stakeholders in the execution of CSR practices. It was found that Stakeholders related to the value chain, the environment and corporate management favour social responsibility actions in local MSMEs. In contrast, community and government have less influence on the development of social responsibility practices in MSMEs. Additionally, it was found that the size of the business acts as an important moderator of the development of the CSR. Given that there is a distinctive influence of Stakeholders in the development of responsible practices in the MSMEs of Santa Marta, it is suggested that comprehensive training programs on social responsibility be promoted in smaller companies.

Identity Politics and Migration

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-158
Author(s):  
Vytis Čiubrinskas
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Social Anthropology ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A Current ◽  
Respective Host

The Centre of Social Anthropology (CSA) at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Kaunas has coordinated projects on this, including a current project on 'Retention of Lithuanian Identity under Conditions of Europeanisation and Globalisation: Patterns of Lithuanian-ness in Response to Identity Politics in Ireland, Norway, Spain, the UK and the US'. This has been designed as a multidisciplinary project. The actual expressions of identity politics of migrant, 'diasporic' or displaced identity of Lithuanian immigrants in their respective host country are being examined alongside with the national identity politics of those countries.

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