A bylaw (sometimes also seen as by-law or Byelaw) was originally the Viking town law in the Danelaw. Contrary to popular etymology the element by has nothing to do with the preposition by. It is the Old Norse word for larger settlement as in Whitby and Derby.
In modern days, a bylaw is a rule governing the internal management of an organization, such as a business corporation. Bylaws cannot countermand governmental law.
In a business situation, bylaws are drafted by a corporation's founders or directors under the authority of its Charter or Articles of Incorporation. Bylaws widely vary from organization to organization, but generally cover topics such as how directors are elected, how meetings of directors (and in the case of a business, shareholders) are conducted, and what officers the organization will have and a description of their duties.
Bylaws generally can be amended by an organization's Board of Directors.
In the public law of some jurisdictions, bylaws are codes and regulations adopted by and governing matters within the purview of sub-state entities, such as parking, zoning, and retail business licensing. See:ordinance.
In parliamentary procedure, particularly Robert's Rules of Order, the bylaws are generally the supreme governing document of an organization, superseded only by the charter of an incorporatedsociety. The bylaws contain the most fundamental principles and rules regarding the nature of the organization. It was once common practice for organizations to have two separate governing documents, a constitution and bylaws, but this has fallen out of favor because of the ease of use, increased clarity, and reduced chance of conflict inherent in a single, unified document. This single document, while properly referred to as the bylaws, is often referred to as a constitution or a constitution and bylaws.
References
- [http://www.answers.com/topic/bylaw Etymology]
Examples
- [http://www.wikimediafoundation.org/bylaws.pdf Bylaws of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.] (PDF)
- [http://www.microsoft.com/msft/governance/bylaws.mspx Bylaws of Microsoft Corporation]
The Danelaw (from the Old EnglishDena lagu) was an area of England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. The term is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions established between Alfred the Great and the Viking Guthrum which were set down in agreements such as the Treaty of Wedmore which established a modus vivendi between the Anglo-Saxons and the Viking in-comers.
Geography of the Danelaw
The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester.
Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford and Derby. These strongholds became known as the "Five Boroughs". Borough derives from the Old English word burg, meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households — anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.
History of the Danelaw
From about 800 AD, waves of Viking assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles, were gradually followed by a succession of settlers. . These enclaves rapidly expanded, and soon the Viking warriors were establishing areas of control to such an extent that they might reasonably be described as kingdoms.
The reason for these wave of immigrations are complex and bound to the political situation in Scandinavia at that time; moreover, they occurred at a time when the Viking forces were also establishing their presence in the Hebrides, in the Orkneys, the Faroe Islands, in Iceland, in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine (see Kievan Rus').
The Danelaw was formally established as a result of the Treaty of Wedmore in the late 9th century, after Alfred the Great had defeated the Viking Guthrum at the Battle of Edington. The Danelaw represented a consolidation of power for Alfred; the subsequent conversion of Guthrum to Christianity underlines the ideological significance of this shift in the balance of power.
The Danelaw was gradually eroded by Anglo-Saxon raids in later years. Edward the Elder (reigned 899 - 924) later incorporated it to his newfound Kingdom of England.
Legal concepts of the Danelaw
The Danelaw was an important factor in the establishment of a civilian peace in the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon and Viking communities. It established, for example, equivalences in areas of legal contentiousness, such as the amount of reparation that should be payable in weregild.
Many of the legalistic concepts were very compatible; for example the Viking wapentake, the standard for land division in the Danelaw was effectively interchangeable with the hundred.
Enduring impact of the Danelaw
The influence of this period of Scandinavian settlement can still be seen in the North of England and the East Midlands, most evidently in place names: name endings such as "by" or "thorp" being particular giveaways.
Old Norse and Old English were still mutually comprehensible, and the mixed language of the Danelaw caused the incorporation of many Norse words into the English language, including the word law itself, as well as the third personpluralpronouns they, them, and their. Many Old Norse words still survive in the dialects of Northeastern England.
Four of the five boroughs became county towns — of the counties of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. However, Stamford failed to gain such status — perhaps because of the nearby anomalous territory of Rutland.
Significant archaeological sites related to the Danelaw
Major archaeological sites which bear testimony to the Danelaw are few, but perhaps the most famous is the site at York, which is often said to derive its name from the Norse, Jorvik, though that name is itself a borrowing of the Old English Eoforwic (the Old English diphthong eo being cognate with the Norse diphthong jo, the Old English intervocalic f typically being pronouced softly as a modern v, and wic being the Old English version of the Norse vik), which in turn was derived from a preexisting name for the town, spelled Eboracum in Latin sources. Other sites include the cremation site at Ingoldsby.
Whitby is a historic town in North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. Nowadays it is a fishing port and tourist destination. It is situated 47 miles from the county town of York, at 54 deg. 29 min. 24 sec. north latitude, and 35 min. 59 sec. west longitude, at the mouth of the River Esk and spreads up the steep sides of the narrow valley carved out by the river's course. At this point the coast curves round, so the town faces more north than east.
The town has a history which dates back, at least, to Saxon times. Its early history is inseparable from the development of the monastery (Whitby Abbey) built on the east cliff.
Saxon Whitby
In 657 the Christian Saxon King of Northumbria, Oswy (Oswiu), fulfilled a vow to build a monastery there and to consecrate his baby daughter, Ethelfleda (Rifled) to the services of God. He had made this vow when asking God to grant him victory over, Penda, the pagan Saxon King of Mercia, at a Battle of Winwaed (probably at Whinmoor, Leeds) on the November 15th655. Penda and most of his nobles were killed in the battle and Oswy decreed that the monastery of Streanshalh (Streonshalh) should be built for the monks and nuns of the Benedictine order, at what later became Whitby. In fact, the original name of the settlement was taken from the monastery, Streanshalh.
In 867, DanishVikings landed two miles west of Whitby at Raven's Hill, and moved on to attack the settlement and to destroy the monastery. It was only after the Norman Conquest of 1066 that William de Percy ordered that the monastery be refounded (1078), dedicating it to St. Peter and St. Hilda. Later it became Presteby (meaning the habitation of Priests in Old Norse) then Hwytby; next Whiteby, (meaning the "white settlement" in Old Norse, probably from the colour of the houses) and finally Whitby.
Old Norse
Late Medieval and Tudor Period
According to Langdale's Yorkshire Dictionary (1822) and Baine's Directory of the County of York (1823), even up to the reign of Elizabeth I Whitby was little more than a small fishing port. In 1540, it had consisted of only around twenty to thirty houses and had a population of about two hundred inhabitants. In this year Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. includig Whitby.
At the end of the XVI. Century, Thomas Chaloner of York traveled to Italy and visited the alum works of his Holiness the Pope. He recognized that the rock from which the alum was made was identical to that abundant in several areas in and around his Guisborough estate in North Yorkshire. Alum was a very important product at that time, used internationally, in curing leather, fixing dyed cloths and for medicinal uses. Up to this period the Vatican had maintained a virtual monopoly on the production and sale of the product.
Chaloner secretly brought some of the Pope's workmen to England, and over the following years developed a thriving alum industry in Yorkshire. (It is said that this development significantly lowered the international price of alum, impacting the profitability of a traditional source of revenue for the Vatican, and that Chaloner was excommunicated).
Modern History (since 1605)
Among the resulting alum producing centres, several were established close to Whitby, including that at Sands (now Sandsend Ness), just three miles from the town, in 1615. With this, two new, rapidly growing activities were promoted in the port of Whitby, the transport of the alum itself and that of the coal necessary for its production.
With this, the town's wealth increased and Whitby began to grow, extending its activities to include shipbuilding, using the local oak as raw material. Taxes on imports entering via the port raised the necessary finance to improve and extend the town's twin piers, thereby improving the harbour and permitting further inceases in trade.
In 1753 the first whaling ship to set sail from Whitby to Greenland. This initiated a new phase in the town's development, and by 1795 Whitby had become a major centre for the whaling industry.
whaling
Over the centuries, the town has spread both inland and onto the west cliff, whilst the east cliff remains dominated by the ruins of Whitby Abbey and by Saint Mary's Church. It is quite a distance to reach the east cliff by road, the alternative being to climb the 199 steps, which are famed enough that many who make the climb can be heard counting on the way up. The west cliff has its own landmarks - a statue of Captain James Cook, who sailed from the town, and an arch of whalebone, in commemoration of the once large whaling industry. The whalebone arch is the second to stand on this spot, the original (a larger version) is now preserved in Whitby Archives Heritage Centre.
James Cook
Whitby was the site of the Rohilla disaster of October 301914; when the hospital ship Rohilla was sunk (either by running aground, or hitting a mine; accounts differ) within sight of shore just off Whitby. Eighty-five people lost their lives in the disaster; most of them are buried in the churchyard at Whitby.
Whitby and literature
One unusual feature of Whitby is the Dracula museum - a large portion of Bram Stoker's famous novel was set in Whitby, including Dracula's arrival in Britain, on a ship washed ashore in the harbour. Lucy watches from the churchyard as the sun sets over the nearby headland of Kettleness, but doesn't know how many steps she climbed to get there.
The present day
The modern Port of Whitby, strategically placed for shipping to Europe, with very good proximity to the Scandinavian countries, is capable of handling a wide range of cargoes, including grain, steel products, timber and potash. Vessels of up to 3000 tonnes DWT are received on a routine basis the Wharf, which has the capability of loading/unloading two ships simultaneously. 5000 sq metres of dock space is currently (2004) allocated for storage of all-weather cargo and a further 1600 sq metres of warehouse space is reserved for weather-critical goods storage.
Each year, on the eve of Ascension Day the Penny Hedge ceremony is performed.
Whitby also hosts the twice-yearly Whitby Gothic Weekend, a festival for members of the goth subculture.
- Synod of Whitby - A History of Whitby,Andrew White, Published : 2004, ISBN1860773060
External links
- [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Whitby/WhitbyHistory.html Whitby History at GENUKI]
- [http://www.portofwhitby.co.uk/ The modern Port of Whitby]
- [http://www.whitby-uk.com/ Whitby-UK]
- [http://www.whitbyonline.co.uk Whitby Online]
- [http://www.whitbytoday.co.uk Whitby Today]
- [http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend]
- [http://www.visitwhitby.co.uk]Whitby shops and attractions
- [http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/staticpages/index.php/Whitby.htm The World Music Central guide to Whitby] For cultural travelers interested in local music, venues, CD shops, instrument makers, etc.
Category:English seaside resortsCategory:Towns in North Yorkshire
As John Fiske described in his 1890 treatise on the Origin of Civil Government in the United States:
:The word "charter" originally meant simply a paper or written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their liberties."
:After a while the word charter was applied in England to a particular document which specified certain important concessions forcibly wrung by the people from a most unwilling sovereign. This document was called Magna Carta, or the "Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 15, 1215, by John, king of England.
History
Charters were issued in medieval times by Royal decree, perhaps giving a particular town the right to hold a weekly market, or to levy a toll on a road or bridge.
Legal status
A charter is a legally binding document incorporating an organization or institution and specifying its purpose, remit or bylaws. Organisations such as the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK is chartered to maintain and advance the science and practice of civil engineering in the UK, and by this charter has the right to regulate the business of civil engineering in the UK; this gives rise to a status of a chartered engineer - one who satisfies the requirements of the charter holding organisation.
Charter schools
In education, charter schools are becoming quite common.
Charter colony
A charter colony is a type of colony that was established by a group of settlers that received a charter.
Charter member
The term charter member refers to a person or group who was among those participating in the creation of any chartered organisation.
- [http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Ap/Mc/Charter.asp The Royal Charter for the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council]
- The International [http://www.icharter.org Charter] Organization
- [http://en.constitution.wikicities.com/ Create your own ideological charter]
Category:Law
Articles of Incorporation
The Articles of Incorporation (sometimes also referred to as the Certificate of Incorporation or the Charter) are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.
A corporation's Articles of Incorporation generally provide information such as:
- The name of the person organizing the corporation (the Incorporator).
- If a business, the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue.
- The names of the corporation's initial Board of Directors (though this is optional in most cases).
- The location of the corporation's "registered office" - the location at which legal papers can be served to the corporation if necessary. Some states further require the designation of a Registered Agent: a person to whom such papers could be delivered.
Articles of Incorporation vary widely from corporation to corporation, and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but generally do not go into great detail about a corporation's operations, which are spelled out in more detail in a company's By-Laws.
Examples
- [http://www.ibm.com/investor/corpgovernance/cgcoi.phtml Certificate of Incorporation (International Business Machines)]: Example of a company's Articles of Incorporation
A board of directors, also called board of trustees, board of governors, board of managers, or board of curators, is a group of individuals who govern the affairs of a corporation. Board members in most legal jurisdictions have specific fiduciary duties whereby they must act for the benefit of the corporation. A board is either self-perpetuating or elected by the members of the corporation. In the case of an incorporated joint-stock company, the board is almost always elected by the members (shareholders) of the company. Individuals can be members of the board of directors of multiple corporations at one time.
The main duties of the board are to choose the chief executive officer and other officers to run the day-to-day operations of the corporation and to exercise high-level oversight. Typically corporate boards are involved in issues of ownership, strategy, financing, and mergers and acquisitions.
The actual power held by the board of directors varies widely from corporation to corporation. In some, the board of directors form a powerful body to which senior management is subservient. Other times, the board is a formality which merely rubber stamps decisions of the CEO and senior management.
The board is run by the chairman of the board. Often the CEO serves concurrently as the chairman. Some hold that this is inappropriate in a publicly-traded joint-stock company, for, they contend, it gives management too much power over the board, which is supposed to provide oversight of management.
Larger boards are partitioned into several committees with specific tasks. For example, a compensation committee is commonly formed to make decisions regarding salary and stock allocations for top management (and sometimes for the entire employee pool). Others might include an audit committee, a legal affairs committee, and a mergers and acquisitions committee.
A board will often consist of executive and non-executive directors. Executive directors play an active part in running the company, while non-executive directors are only there to offer advice.
It is widely considered good management practice to create a board of directors with persons with expertise from diverse backgrounds and to have outside directors or non-executive directors who can provide a perspective on a situation which is independent from management. For example it is extremely common for a good percentage of the boards of most large corporations to be from academia, especially business schools. Sometimes relatives of powerful politicians are selected to serve on boards, such as when Hillary Clinton served on the board at Arkansas-based Wal-Mart while her husband, Bill, was Governor of Arkansas.
Failures
While the primary responsibility of boards is to ensure that the corporation's management is performing its job correctly, actually achieving this in practice can be difficult. In a number of "corporate scandals" of the 1990s, one notable feature revealed in subsequent investigations is that boards were not aware of the activities of the managers that they hired, and the true financial state of the corporation. A number of factors may be involved in this tendency:
- Most boards largely rely on management to report information to them, thus allowing management to place the desired 'spin' on information, or even conceal or lie about the true state of a company.
- Boards of directors are part-time bodies, whose members meet only occasionally and may not know each other particularly well. This unfamiliarity can make it difficult for board members to question management.
- CEOs tend to be rather forceful personalities. In some cases, CEOs are accused of exercising too much influence over the company's board.
- Directors may not have the time or the skills required to understand the details of corporate business, allowing management to obscure problems.
- The same directors who appointed the present CEO oversee their performance. This makes it difficult for some directors to dispassionately evaluate the CEO's performance.
- Directors often feel that a judgement of a manager, particularly one who has performed well in the past, should be respected. This can be quite legitimate, but poses problems if the manager's judgement is indeed flawed.
- All of the above may contribute to a culture of "not rocking the boat" at board meetings.
Because of this, the role of boards in corporate governance, and how to improve their oversight capability, has been examined carefully in recent years, and new legislation in a number of jurisdictions, and an increased focus on the topic by boards themselves, has seen changes implemented to try and improve their performance.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) has introduced new standards of accountability on the board of directors. Members now risk large fines and prison sentences in the case of accounting crimes. Internal controls are now the direct responsibility of directors. This means that the vast majority of public companies now have hired internal auditors to ensure that the company adheres to the highest standards of internal controls. Additionally, these internal auditors are required by law to report directly to the audit board. This group consists of board of directors members where more than half of the members are outside the company and one of those members outside the company is an accounting expert.
- [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/precis/titpg-e.htm Précis of Procedure for Canada's House of Commons]
Category:Parliamentary law
Organization
:Alternative meaning: Organisation (band).
An organisation (Commonwealth English) or organization (American English, and Oxford English) is a formal group of people with one or more shared goals. This topic is a broad one.
Organisations are studied by researchers from several disciplines: sociology, economics, political science, psychology, engineering, etc. The area is commonly referred to as organisation theory, organisational behaviour or organisation analysis. it however consists of a number of different theories and perspectives, some of which are compatible and others that are competing. Among those that are or have been most influential are:
- Weberian organisation theory (referring to Max Weber's chapter on Bureaucracy in his book 'Economy and Society'
- Marxist organisation analysis
- Scientific Management (mainly following Frederick W Taylor)
- Human Relations Studies (going back to the Hawthorne studies, Maslow and Hertzberg)
- Administrative theories (with work by e.g. Henri Fayol and Chester Barnard)
- Contingency theory
- New institutionalism and new institutional economics
- Network analysis
- Economic Sociology
- Organisation ecology (or demography of organisations)
- Transaction cost economics
- Agency theory (sometimes called principal - agent theory)
- Studies of organisation culture
- Postmodern organisation studies
- Labour Process Theory
- Critical Management Studies
- Unicist Natural Organisation
The most prestigious scientific journals focused on the study of organisations include organisation, Organisation Studies, Administrative Science Quarterly and Academy of Management Review.
"Organisation" can also be used to define how the different parts of computer hardware are linked in order to execute the many computational activities most efficiently.
Organisations that are legal entities: government, international organisation, non-governmental organisation, armed forces, corporation, partnership, charity, not-for-profit corporation, cooperative, university.
The study of organisations includes a focus on optimising [organisational structure]. According to management science, most human organisations fall roughly into four types:
- Pyramids or hierarchies - Committees or juries - Matrix organisations
- EcologiesOrganisation studies also includes research efforts to inform the effective management of organisations, and addresses organisational culture, organisational learning and managing change as major factors affecting organisational effectiveness, beyond the basics of organisational structure.
Pyramids or hierarchies
A hierarchy exemplifies an arrangement with a leader who leads leaders. This arrangement is often associated with bureaucracy. Hierarchies were satirised in The Peter Principle (1969), a book that introduced the term hierarchiology and the saying that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
An extremely rigid, in terms of responsibilities, type of organisation is exemplified by Führerprinzip.
Committees or juries
These consist of a group of peers who decide as a group, perhaps by voting. The difference between a jury and a committee is that the members of the committee are usually assigned to perform or lead further actions after the group comes to a decision, whereas members of a jury come to a decision. In common law countries legal juries render decisions of guilt, liability and quantify damages; juries are also used in athletic contests, book awards and similar activities. Sometimes a selection committee functions like a jury. In the middle ages juries in continental Europe were used to determine the law according to consensus amongst local notables.
Committees are often the most reliable way to make decisions. Condorcet's jury theorem proved that if the average member votes better than a roll of dice, then adding more members increases the number of majorities that can come to a correct vote (however correctness is defined). The problem is that if the average member is worse than a roll of dice, the committee's decisions grow worse, not better! Staffing is crucial.
Parliamentary procedure, such as Robert's Rules of Order, helps prevent committees from engaging in lengthy discussions without reaching decisions.
Staff organisation or cross-functional team
A staff helps an expert get all his work done. To this end, a "chief of staff" decides whether an assignment is routine or not. If it's routine, he assigns it to a staff member, who is a sort of junior expert. The chief of staff schedules the routine problems, and checks that they are completed.
If a problem is not routine, the chief of staff notices. He passes it to the expert, who solves the problem, and educates the staff -- converting the problem into a routine problem.
In a "cross functional team," like an executive committee, the boss has to be a non-expert, because so many kinds of expertise are required.
Matrix organisation
This organisational type assigns each worker to two bosses in two different hierarchies. One hierarchy is "functional" and assures that each type of expert in the organisation is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same field. The other direction is "executive" and tries to get projects completed using the experts. Projects might be organised by regions, customer types, or some other schema.
See matrix management.
Ecologies
This organisation has intense competition. Bad parts of the organisation starve. Good ones get more work. Everybody is paid for what they actually do, and runs a tiny business that has to show a profit, or they are fired.
Companies who utilise this organisation type reflect a rather one-sided view of what goes on in ecology. It is also the case that a natural ecosystem has a natural border - ecoregions do not in general compete with one another in any way, but are very autonomous.
The pharmaceutical companyGlaxoSmithKline talks about functioning as this type of organisation in [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1294443,00.html this external article] from The Guardian.
"Chaordic" organisations
The chaordic model of organising human endeavours emerged in the [1990]s, based on a blending of chaos and order (hence "chaordic"), comes out of the work of Dee Hock and the creation of the VISA financial network. Blending democracy, complex system, consensus decision making, co-operation and competition, the chaordic approach attempts to encourage organisations to evolve from the increasingly nonviable hierarchical, command-and-control models.
Similarly, see Emergent organisations, and the principle of self-organisation. See also group entity for an anarchist perspective on human organisations.
- Organisations by Richard Scott: ISBN 0132663546
- Organisations and Institutions by Richard Scott
- Understanding organisations by Charles Handy.
- The Peter Principle, Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, Pan Books 1970 ISBN 0-330-02519-8
- The Nature of the Firm by Ronald Coase.
External links
- [http://www.globaldharma.org Website of Global Dharma Center, a not-for-profit organisation offering (free) training modules, research papers, workshop exercises etc on Culture Development and Individual/Organisation Transformation]
Category:Organizational theory
- Protection of personal assets. Safeguarding personal assets against the claims of creditors and lawsuits. Sole proprietors and general partners in a partnership are personally and jointly responsible for all the liabilities of a business such as loans, accounts payable, and legal judgements. In a corporation, however, stockholders, directors and officers typically are not liable for their company's debts and obligations. They are limited in liability to the amount they have invested in the corporation (eg: If $100 in stock was purchased, no more than $100 can be lost). Corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) may also hold personal assets like houses, cars or boats. If one is personally involved in a lawsuit or bankruptcy, these assets may be protected. A creditor of the owner of a corporation or LLC cannot seize the assets of the company, however, they can seize their ownership shares in the corporation, as that is considered a personal asset.
- Transferable ownership. Ownership in a corporation or LLC is easily transferable to others, either in whole or in part. Some states' laws are particularly attractive to this end. For example, with a Delaware Corporation, the transfer of ownership in a corporation is not required to be filed or recorded.
- Retirement funds. Retirement funds and qualified retirement plans (like 401ks) may be set up more easily with a corporation. Corporations can also fully deduct the cost of paying its owner's health insurance.
- Taxation. In the United States, corporations are taxed at a lower rate than individuals. Also, they can own shares in other corporations and receive corporate dividends 80% tax-free. There are no limits on the amount of losses a corporation may carry forward to subsequent tax years. A sole proprietorship, on the other hand, cannot claim a capital loss greater than $3,000 unless the owner has offsetting capital gains.
- Raising funds through sale of stock. Capital from investors can be raised for corporations easily through the sale of stock.
- Durability. A corporation is capable of continuing indefinitely. Its existence is not affected by the death of shareholders, directors, or officers of the corporation.
- Credit rating. Regardless of an owner's personal credit scores, corporations acquire their own credit rating, and build a separate credit history by applying for and using corporate credit.
Steps for incorporation
- The filing of the Articles of Incorporation (also called a Charter, Certificate of Incorporation or Letters Patent). The first step is to check with your state's corporate filing office (usually either the Secretary of State or Corporations Commissioner) and federal and state trademark registers to be sure the name you want to use is available. You then fill in blanks in a preprinted form (available from commercial publishers or your state's corporate filing office) listing the purpose of your corporation, its principal place of business and the number and type of shares of stock. You'll file these documents with the appropriate office, along with a registration fee which will usually be between $200 and $1,000, depending on the state.
- How to Select a Corporation's Name. A corporate name is generally made up of 3 parts: "Distinctive element", "Descriptive element", and a legal ending. All corporations MUST have a distinctive element and a legal ending to their names. Some corporations choose not to have a descriptive element. In the name "Tiger Computers Inc." the word "Tiger" is the distinctive element; the word "Computers" is the descriptive element; and the "Inc." is the legal ending. The legal ending indicates that it is in fact a legal corporation and not just a business registration or partnership. You can choose from the following words: Incorporated, Limited and Corporation, or their respective abbreviations: Inc., Ltd. and Corp.
- You'll also need to complete (but not file) Corporate Bylaws. These will outline a number of important corporate housekeeping details such as when annual shareholder meetings will be held, who can vote and the manner in which shareholders will be notified if there is need for an additional "special" meeting.
Reporting after incorporation
- Assuming your corporation has not sold stock to the public, conducting corporate business is remarkably straightforward and uncomplicated. Often it amounts to little more than recording key corporate decisions (for example, borrowing money or buying real estate) and holding an annual meeting. Even these formalities can often be done by written agreement and don't usually necessitate a face-to-face meeting.
International perspective on incorporation
The legal concept of incorporation is recognized all over the world. In the United States, corporations are identified by the term "incorporated" added after the business name, such as "Texas Instruments, Incorporated", or by putting the word corporation in the name of the company, as in "Netscape Communications Corporation". In Germany, the phrase Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (German: limited liability company; business entity, abbreviated GmbH) as in "L'Orange GmbH", or Aktiengesellschaft (German: stock corporation, abbreviated as AG) as in Deutsche Bank AG are used. In the United Kingdom the titles Ltd. (abbreviation for limited company) or plc (abbreviation for public limited company) are used for corporations. In France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands and South America the title S.A. is used for corporations. Norway uses the title AS for stock corporations (Norwegian: Aksje Selskap).
- [http://www.inc.com/articles/1999/10/14610.html Inc.com | How to Incorporate a Small Business]
- [http://www.delawareinc.com/101/library.cfm Incorporate in Delaware - Downloadable Forms]
- [http://www.speedy-incorporation.com/stateinformation/ Speedy Incorporation | State Specific Information about Incorporating]
- [http://www.inclaunch.com/about_incorporating/about_delaware_and_nevada.php IncLaunch.com | Benefits of Incorporating In Delaware or Nevada]
As John Fiske described in his 1890 treatise on the Origin of Civil Government in the United States:
:The word "charter" originally meant simply a paper or written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their liberties."
:After a while the word charter was applied in England to a particular document which specified certain important concessions forcibly wrung by the people from a most unwilling sovereign. This document was called Magna Carta, or the "Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 15, 1215, by John, king of England.
History
Charters were issued in medieval times by Royal decree, perhaps giving a particular town the right to hold a weekly market, or to levy a toll on a road or bridge.
Legal status
A charter is a legally binding document incorporating an organization or institution and specifying its purpose, remit or bylaws. Organisations such as the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK is chartered to maintain and advance the science and practice of civil engineering in the UK, and by this charter has the right to regulate the business of civil engineering in the UK; this gives rise to a status of a chartered engineer - one who satisfies the requirements of the charter holding organisation.
Charter schools
In education, charter schools are becoming quite common.
Charter colony
A charter colony is a type of colony that was established by a group of settlers that received a charter.
Charter member
The term charter member refers to a person or group who was among those participating in the creation of any chartered organisation.
- [http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Ap/Mc/Charter.asp The Royal Charter for the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council]
- The International [http://www.icharter.org Charter] Organization
- [http://en.constitution.wikicities.com/ Create your own ideological charter]
Category:Law
Articles of Incorporation
The Articles of Incorporation (sometimes also referred to as the Certificate of Incorporation or the Charter) are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.
A corporation's Articles of Incorporation generally provide information such as:
- The name of the person organizing the corporation (the Incorporator).
- If a business, the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue.
- The names of the corporation's initial Board of Directors (though this is optional in most cases).
- The location of the corporation's "registered office" - the location at which legal papers can be served to the corporation if necessary. Some states further require the designation of a Registered Agent: a person to whom such papers could be delivered.
Articles of Incorporation vary widely from corporation to corporation, and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but generally do not go into great detail about a corporation's operations, which are spelled out in more detail in a company's By-Laws.
Examples
- [http://www.ibm.com/investor/corpgovernance/cgcoi.phtml Certificate of Incorporation (International Business Machines)]: Example of a company's Articles of Incorporation
Charlotta Ernestina Bernadina von Stein was born as “von Schardt” in Eisenach on December 25, 1742. Her parents were Hofmarschall Johann Wilhelm Christian von Schardt and Concordia Elisabeth von Schardt. While her father was a wasteful eccentric, her mother who had had Scottish ancestors was said to be very quiet and dutiful.
Her Parents moved to Weimar when Charlotte was yet a little child. Early Charlotte von Stein was prepared for working as a lady-in-waiting. Her education included literature, art, singing and dancing. They said that Charlotte was unobtrusive, witty, graceful and dutiful like her mother was. There are four things she spent most of her time on:
- Society (according to her “profession”)
- Taking cures (she had a weak constitution)
- Literature/Theater/Art (as a part of her social life; her own tries were not that good)
- Animals (she had various, e.g. cats, dogs and doves)
Profession and family
In 1758 Charlotte became a lady-in-waiting to Duchess Anna Amalia whom she served until her death in 1807.
On May 17,1764, Charlotte married Baron Gottlob Ernst Josias Friedrich Freiherr von Stein (1735-1793). This was not a marriage out of love, but they got married for social and political interests. Often Charlotte remained alone in Weimar because her husband had to travel much serving the duke of Jena-Weimar. From 1764 to 1773 she gave birth to seven children: the four daughters died, three boys (Karl, Ernst, Fritz) survived. After her seventh child was born she had to take several cures being physically exhausted.
In 1793 the deep friendship between Charlotte and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ended with his sudden departure to Italy without even telling her he wanted to go. Not until after 1800 their relation began to normalize but it never got as close as before.
After her husband had died in 1793 Charlotte retired from society and got more and more lonely.
In 1794 she wrote the drama Dido which was a literary self-portrait. It reflected the years from 1770 to 1790 and the situation in Weimar at that time.
Charlotte von Stein died on January 6, 1827 in the age of 85.
Boden (tätort)
Boden (lulesam.Suttes, fi. Puuti, Putas), stad i landskapet Norrbotten, Norrbottens län, centralort i Bodens kommun. Ursprungligen var Boden en kyrkby i Överluleå socken, och ibland har namnet Överluleå använts synonymt med Boden.
Sedermera blev Boden en bas för svängningsrörelse i mekaniskt system, där också mänskliga kroppsdelar och organ kan ingå. Svängningar styrs av olika typer av krafter: masskrafter, återförande krafter, dämpande krafter och störande (pådrivande, exciterande) krafter.
Vibration kan mätas i storheterna förskjutning,
Alby, Botkyrka
Alby, kommundel i Botkyrka kommun. De flesta bostäderna finns i höghusområden med hög andel invånare med utländsk härkomst, men en del av Alby består också av villor och radhus. Från husen på Albyberget har man milsvid utsikt åt alla håll.
Här finns en tunnelbanestation, se Alby (tunnelbanestation)
