Management’s Fiduciary Responsibility Towards IT Governance In The Context Of The King III Code Of Corporate Governance In South Africa

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which South African listed companies trading on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) are complying with IT governance imperatives in the context of the King III Code of Corporate Governance. Management information systems and usage of computers are now embedded in business processes to the extent that most firms will be dysfunctional should these tools become unavailable. The underlying theoretical setting for this study is anchored on the agency theory and the Porter’s competitive five forces model. Since there were inadequate constructs on the subject, a combination of research methods were used: desk-top review, exploratory study, and content analysis, by reviewing the annual financial statements of fifty JSE-listed companies (the main board) in South Africa. The general outcome of the study was that JSE-listed companies in South Africa were compliant with IT governance practices as prescribed in the King III Code of Corporate Governance. Most JSE-listed companies in South Africa utilized both generic and bespoke or owned-designed IT governance frameworks to meet IT governance requirements. The study also revealed that issues relating to IT governance were among priority issues for South African listed companies. The study concludes that JSE-listed companies in South Africa have indeed fulfilled their fiduciary responsibility towards IT governance.

The Case of the Chelsea Grand: Card-Check Neutrality, Management Contracts, and The Duties of Owners and Operators

This article examines the dispute between a hotel owner, operator, and union, and the subsequent litigation. The dispute centered on whether the hotel owner was bound by agreements made between its operator and the union, and whether the operator had a fiduciary duty to the owner. Courts found that the operator was a joint employer of the owner’s employees, and as a result, the owner was bound to agreements that the operator had made with the union. The owner, who did not want to be bound to the union agreement, subsequently sued its operator for alleged breach of fiduciary responsibility. The courts ruled that the hotel management agreement between the owner and operator created no agency relationship and thus no fiduciary duty on the part of the operator. We discuss the potential implications of these findings for union-management relations as well as owner-operator relations, with a specific focus on the implications for hotel owners in the labor context.

Corrupting the Youth: Should Parents Feed their Children Meat?

This article is concerned with choices that parents or guardians make about the food they give to their children. Those with primary responsibility for the care of young children determine the set of foods that their children eat and have a significant impact on children’s subsequent dietary choices, both in later childhood and in adulthood. I argue that parents have a morally significant reason not to feed meat to their children, which stems from their fiduciary responsibility for the child’s moral development. This should, at a minimum, be factored into parental decisions about their children’s diet. In the absence of compelling countervailing reasons, it will mean that parents should not, in an all-things-considered sense, feed meat to their children. This claim does not rely upon the obviously contentious claim that it is morally wrong to eat meat. Instead, the fact that children, when adults, may reasonably themselves come to believe that consuming meat is wrong gives parents morally compelling reasons to avoid acting in ways which may have the predictable consequence of corrupting the moral character of those for whom they are responsible.

Implement the Decision

Implementing the decision begins by double-checking that the course of action that is chosen passes six ethical tests prior to enactment. The chapter focuses on six final checks: the Golden Rule, fiduciary responsibility, justice and fairness, publicity, universality, and mitigation of harm. It recommends that mental health professionals be prepared to justify the decision by managing criticism. Criticism can be assuaged by emphasizing protection of the client, a focus on the present, and the positive outcomes achieved. It recommends that clinicians document their ethical decision-making process and use established parameters to justify their decision.

Legislative Design of Director’s Responsibility in India: In Search of Clarity

Indian Companies Act, 2013 addresses the director’s responsibility through specific statutory provisions. While highlighting certain nuances in the legislative design, the article argues for more clarification for the director’s responsibility, specifically for non-executive and independent directors. The normative contribution of this article stresses the need to reform the existing statutory framework for according protection to directors of a company. Operationalization of fiduciary responsibility based on common law principles, along with section 166, Companies Act, 2013 is not clear in the statutory design. Emerging concerns of the director’s responsibility include lack of adequate protection for non-executive and independent directors which deserve more policy deliberations. The recently introduced Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 poses evolving responsibility on directors, forming yet another emerging concern in the Indian context.

What Is Wrong With Grade Inflation (if Anything)?

Grade inflation is a global phenomenon that has garnered widespread condemnation among educators, researchers, and the public. Yet, few have deliberated over the ethics of grading, let alone the ethics of grade inflation. The purpose of this paper is to map out and examine the ethics of grade inflation. By way of beginning, we clarify why grade inflation is a problem of practical ethics embedded in contemporary social practice. Then, we illuminate three different aspects of grade inflation—longitudinal, compressed, and comparative—and explore the ethical dilemmas that each one raises. We demonstrate how these three aspects may be seen as corresponding to three different victims of grade inflation—individuals, institutions, and society—and hence also to three potential agents of harm—teachers, schools, and educational systems. Next, we reflect upon various compelling reasons that these agents inflate grades, whether from an ethic of care, fiduciary responsibility, or simple self-preservation. Subsequently, we consider a variety of means of combatting grade inflation, and invite more educators and philosophers to delve into the complex practical ethics of grade inflation.