Mapping the Golden Circle

[Howitzer]

insideireland.ie/index.cfm/s … egory/1084

A small number of interconnected business people operated at the apex of Irish business during the boom years 2005-2007, according to a new report from the TASC think-tank.

The group’s latest piece of research, Mapping the Golden Circle, claims to reveal the extent of the network across 40 of Ireland’s top private companies and state-owned bodies in that period.

Together, these companies employed 310,000 people and had a combined turnover (or equivalent) of nearly €80bn. They included both private companies and state-owned bodies.

Full report
tascnet.ie/upload/file/MtGC%20ISSU.pdf

TAS C is an independent think tank dedicated to combating Ireland’s high level
of economic inequality and ensuring that public policy has equality at its core.

Mapping the Golden Circle presents research undertaken to test the hypothesis
that Ireland’s top companies – in both the private and public sectors – had a
small group of well-connected individuals sitting on their boards during the
crucial Celtic Tiger years 2005 – 2007. The report concludes that there was a small
group of individuals who held multiple directorships in these 40 companies, and
explores the implications for good corporate governance of institutions at the
heart of Ireland’s economy.

[the_edge]

Talk of a ‘Golden Circle’ implies that the route to advancement involves the right connections and right family, etc, however most of these people have excellent academic records and a record of achievement in their disciplines.

(Doesn’t necessarily mean they did a good job as directors, of course.)

[DM18]

This is a very interesting report.
I see one CEO/Executive had 44 additional Directorships over a three period (2005-2007).
Another well known one (check the report - link above!) was a member of 5 boards and had 28 additional Directorships.

[Coles2]

Talk of a ‘Golden Circle’ implies that the route to advancement involves the right connections and right family, etc, however most of these people have excellent academic records and a record of achievement in their disciplines.

(Doesn’t necessarily mean they did a good job as directors, of course.)

So these are our brightest and best?!

There is no shortage of people with ‘excellent academic records and a record of achievement in their disciplines’, whatever you imagine that to mean, and the fact remains that it is unhealthy in every sense to have a limited gene pool from which to draw the directors of corporate boards. As Niall Fitzgerald, chairman of Unilever said, these board members were either complit or incompetent.

[sorehead]

While interesting it’s perhaps devalued since the likes of multiple board member David Begg don’t get mentioned in the TASC report.

[Coles2]

This report will be discussed by Vincent Brown in a few moments.