bakeries that supply its restaurants with buns. Each of these is incorporated as a separate
legal entity and managed as a wholly owned subsidiary by the parent company. McDo-
nald’s is also a partner in some Russian farms that grow potatoes to supply regional res-
taurants with french fries.
Board of Directors
A corporate
board of directors
is a governing body that is
elected by the stockholders and charged with overseeing a firm’s general management
to ensure that it is run to best serve the stockholders’ interests. Some boards are rela-
tively passive: They perform a general oversight function but seldom get actively involved
in how the company is really run. But this trend is changing as more and more boards
carefully scrutinize the firms they oversee and exert more influence over how they are
being managed. This trend has been accelerated by numerous recent business scandals.
In some cases, board members have been accused of wrongdoing. In other cases, boards
have been found negligent for failing to monitor the actions of the firm’s executives.
7
At
issue is the concept of corporate governance—who is responsible for governing the
actions of a business? McDonald’s has a board of directors composed of 14 members.
This board includes 4 inside members (full-time executives of the firm) and 10 outside
members (individuals who do not work directly for the firm). This presumably allows
decisions to be made in ways that protect the interests of diverse stakeholders.
Employees
An organization’s employees are also a major element of its internal envi-
ronment. Of particular interest to managers today is the changing nature of the work-
force, which is becoming increasingly more diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, age,
and other dimensions. Workers are also calling for more job ownership—either partial
ownership in the company or at least more say in how they perform their jobs.
8
Another
trend in many firms is increased reliance on temporary workers—individuals hired for
short periods of time with no expectation of permanent employment. Employers often
prefer to use “temps” because they provide greater flexibility, earn lower wages, and
often do not participate in benefits programs. But these managers also have to deal
with what often amounts to a two-class workforce and with a growing number of
employees who have no loyalty to the organization where they work because they may
be working for a different one tomorrow.
9
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: