How a business can be dominated by an individual (for good or bad)

Here’s a link to an interesting article in the New Statesman bout a well-known business trust, the Guardian newspaper.it recounts how powerful Alan Rusbrudger, editor of the Guardian, has become very powerful. He sits on the board not only of the newspaper but also of the parent company and of the trust itself (the ultimate owner). What’s more, several of his mates sit on the board of the trust.

It is a salutary reminder that mere ownership by a charity or trust doesn’t ensure that the business will always make the right decisions, and that organisations can easily be captured by one ambitious individual. I believe that it is possible, as has been done in the John Lewis Partnership, to introduce governance processes to avoid, or at least to minimise the chance of, this happening. We need to get better at these processes if we are to make business trusts successful.