Roles of board of directors
The board of directors at the Apple Company is made up of seven members. Five of the seven board members make up the management team. At the company, the board of directors has several roles. The first role is provision of business leadership through setting of the short-term and long-term company strategies. Besides, the board has the role of ensuring that financial and other business resources are not only adequate, but also aligned with the primary objective of being the leader in innovation in the PC market across the globe (Apple Inc par. 6). The board of directors at the company is empowered by company’s mission statement to ensure that performance of management is optimized within the values and standards of the business objectives (Drucker 19). In addition, the role of the board of directors is to act as the prefect on behalf of the stakeholders and shareholders by ensuring that their interests are met and clearly inferred.
Role of chairman of the board
At the Apple Company, the chairman of the board of directors has the primary role of leading the board in all meetings and decision making process. Therefore, the chairman is the prefect of the board of directors and is proactive in setting the agenda, creating a dynamic debating environment, and affirming the company’s organization culture. Besides, as the communication leader to the board of directors, the chairman has the responsibility of ensuring that comprehensive, on-time, and precise information is passed to other members (Arjoon 26).
Relationship: Top executives, chief operating officer, and stakeholders
At the Apple Company, the board of directors under the leadership of its chairman has the mandate to hire, proactively supervise, and periodically evaluate the top executives. Besides, the board of directors is responsible for evaluation of the monetary and other compensations to the executive team (Drucker 21). For instance, following the demise of Steve Jobs, the board of directors interviewed, evaluated, and recommended Tim Cook to be the next CEO of the Apple Company.
As a proactive board, the directors of Apple Company have been strategic and consistent in providing relevant and sustainable business direction in consultation with the current CEO. For instance, the iPhone 6 project was a product of an innovative strategy which the board recommended after a series of consultation meetings with stakeholders and shareholders (Apple Inc par. 9).
The Apple’s corporate governance strategy operates on the pillars of transparency, accountability, leadership, and strong standards of corporate management, which is reinforced by the board of directors. The board of directors has the responsibility of managing the affairs of the company in addition to setting the business approach. The board also creates the risk management and mitigation policies besides ensuring that the company is compliant with different regulatory obligations such as business ethics, executive performance, and flexible organization culture. Within the five departments of the Apple Company, there are teams allocated the responsibility of full material disclosure, governance, and direct engagement of the community in the business activities. Among the community engagement initiatives include an education trust, health financing, and supporting different cultural events (Arjoon 22).
The Apple Company has three building blocks of learning consisting of a supportive learning environment, concrete learning processes, and proactive leadership that reinforces innovation, which are enforced by the chairman of the board of directors with the support of other members. The executive managers are expected by the board of directors to play a significant role in setting up the learning environment for the employees (Drucker 31). This culture is meant to create an ideal climate for innovation and communication among the employees. The Apple’s team work culture spells the rules of engagement and expected performance of the employees through the CEO. These rules appreciate diversity and uphold integrity in judgment as enshrined in the company’s vision and mission statement. Generally, the company is committed to compliance and adoption of standard business practices through the actions of the board of directors in managing different business functions and stakeholder interests.
The objective of the board of directors of the Apple Company is to provide sufficient information to the management of the institution on the real management goals that facilitate the occurrence of good governance, as a result of business strategic planning. This objective substantiates differences in management, employee behavior, and professionalism in monitoring control system in the best interests of the shareholders and other stakeholders. Thus, the executive management must use this information from the board of directors in improving monitoring systems, investor’s confidence, and inclusive structuring as the market may demand (Arjoon 38).
A well-structured institution consists of an expertise mandated with the responsibility of systematic knowledge gathering from which testable and definite condensed results are achievable. In relation to the Apple Company, the expert role is provided by the CEO of the organization on behalf of the board of directors who represents the interests of the shareholders. In order to enhance the achievement of the same, the board of directors manages several internal control policies that create consistency and business sustainability of the Apple Company.
Works Cited
Apple Inc. Business Application Development. 2014. Web.
Arjoon, Surendra. Corporate Governance: An Ethical Perspective, Trinidad: University of the West Indies, 2009. Print.
Drucker, Peter. People and Performance. Massachusetts, Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2007. Print.