The interpretation of the director's duty under section 172 Companies Act 2006: insights from complexity theory.

2013 
This article intends to explore how an empirical study on decision-making in a large Plc in the United Kingdom may provide some insights into the legal interpretation of the directorsduty to "promote the success of the company" under s.172 of the Companies Act 2006. The empirical study we have conducted is an in-depth study of one large UK Plc and how its executives have responded to a couple of significant turning points in the Plc’s business. Although the empirical study only features one large UK Plc, the authors believe that the in-depth study is unique and is able to highlight issues that may be of general concern in the application of s.172 of the Companies Act 2006 to executive decision-making in large and relatively complex public listed companies in the United Kingdom. The second part of this article provides a brief literature review of the developments leading up to the enactment of s.172 of the Companies Act 2006, and the jurisprudence developed in the courts and key academic commentary on the section. The third part then discusses the methodology and findings of the in-depth empirical study, and the fourth part attempts to raise some questions in light of the issues raised in the literature review. The fifth part concludes.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    0
    References
    1
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []