Forgive me if I'm being overly simple, but Fishin, I think you're picking nits. A corporation is not a person, but it is run by a board of directors and that board is responsible to know how the corporation is being run, decisions being made, etc. The board is responsible for who they hire to run the corporation and to be informed about what that person or persons is doing. To do otherwise is unethical, and is against the corporate law in New York State at least. Some body of persons has to be responsible for a corporation. And if one individual on a board doesn't like the decisions being made, that member can object and if not satisfied, can resign. It does happen.
Right, Lola, as incorporation has been misused by individuals getting together to shield them from personal responsibility. That's changed a lot in recent years -- when I was a controller I used to open accounts only by asking the corporate officers to sign individual responsibility for any debt because of lack of credit history or a less than good history. This was awhile ago but I know it is one of the credit policies that is now more enforced that ever before. A corporation can be like an apple - shiny and red, healthy on the outside but wormy and rotten on the inside. There is such a thing as corporate ethics and because of the power of these entities, it should be on a very high plane. I hope the lesson is being learned and corporate leaders are shaping up. I still wonder how many submitted financial statements which they signed per the new law and still know of discrepancies that a smart attorney will be able to explain off as legal "margin of error." Acounting is not an exact science, that is true but if it is manipulated to the extent that it makes a rosier picture for the company, that simply doesn't exist, it's poor if not non-existant ethics. Ethics really is something that is there or isn't there. There is no such thing as "some" ethics or as it might be characterized, a level of ethics everyone can live with.
Lola
May I suggest the we start a new thread dealing with Corporage Policies or some such. I for one would like to know for example how they choose Board members and how much they get paid.
perception, Sounds like a good idea for a thread to me. I'll have to read and learn, however. I've said everything I know about corporations in my last post.
We get that on credit applications, LW, and leave that section blank. We also do not send copies of financial statements. We have also never been denied credit.
Yes, Roger, it is voluntary in most cases and, of course, one would not want to fill it out and sign it if it's not insisted upon. Otherwise, why incorporate? The reason I brought it up is that it shows that as far as ethics, a corporation is an entity that becomes the representative for the individuals involved. The individual who fills out the credit application has no reason not to be ethical and fill it out truthfully unless others above him instruct him to do otherwise. That's the Catch 22 of working within a corporation. I do agree with perception that this could be an entirely different discussion but we seem to have a problem decerning the ethics of an individual compared to the ethics of the entity of a company. I'd say the decline is due to the principals of the company dictating policies that those underneath blithely go along with. They should all consult private attorneys or look for another job! Whistleblowing should never be done without consulting an attorney.
Are they still in decline?
Doesn't every age see itself in decline? Isn't that what pessimism is: the idea that doom is all around us?
