Thechair, alsochairman,chairwoman, orchairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as aboard,committee, ordeliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group or organisation, presides overmeetings of the group, and is required to conduct the group's business in an orderly fashion.[1]
In some organizations, the chair is also known aspresident (or other title).[2][3] In others, where a board appoints a president (or other title), the two terms are used for distinct positions. The term chairman may be used in a neutral manner, not directly implying the gender of the holder. In meetings or conferences, to "chair" something (chairing) means to lead the event.[4]
Terms for the office and its holder includechair,chairperson,chairman,chairwoman,convenor,facilitator,moderator,president, andpresiding officer.[5][6][7][8][9] The chair of a parliamentary chamber is sometimes called thespeaker.[10][11]Chair has been used to refer to aseat or office of authority since the middle of the 17th century; its earliest citation in theOxford English Dictionary dates to 1658–1659, four years after the first citation forchairman.[12][13][14] Feminist critiques have analysedChairman as an example ofsexist language, associating the male gender with the exercise of authority, this has led to the widespread use of the generic "Chairperson".[15]
InWorld Schools Style debating, as of 2009,chairperson orchair refers to the person who controls the debate; it recommends usingMadame Chair orMr. Chairman to address the chair.[16] TheFranklinCovey Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication and theAmerican Psychological Association style guide advocate usingchair orchairperson.[17][18]The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style (2000) suggested that the gender-neutral forms were gaining ground; it advocatedchair for both men and women.[19]The Daily Telegraph's style guide bans the use ofchair andchairperson; the newspaper's position, as of 2018, is that "chairman is correct English".[20] TheNational Association of Parliamentarians adopted a resolution in 1975 discouraging the use ofchairperson and rescinded it in 2017.[21][22]
The wordchair can refer to the place from which the holder of the office presides, whether on a chair, at a lectern, or elsewhere.[1] During meetings, the person presiding is said to be "in the chair" and is also referred to as "the chair".[1]Parliamentary procedure requires that members address the "chair" as "Mr. (or Madam) Chairman (or Chair or Chairperson)" rather than using a name – one of many customs intended to maintain the presiding officer's impartiality and to ensure an objective and impersonal approach.[7][24]
In the Britishmusic hall tradition, the chairman was themaster of ceremonies who announced the performances and was responsible for controlling any rowdy elements in the audience. The role was popularised on British TV in the 1960s and 1970s byLeonard Sachs, the chairman on the variety showThe Good Old Days.[25]
"Chairman" as a quasi-title gained particular resonance when socialist states from 1917 onward shunned more traditionalleadership labels and stressed the collective control ofSoviets (councils or committees) by beginning to refer to executive figureheads as "Chairman of the X Committee".Lenin, for example, officially functioned as the head of Soviet Russian government not as prime minister or as president but as "Chairman of theCouncil of People's Commissars".[26][27] At the same time, the head of the state was first called "Chairman of theCentral Executive Committee" (until 1938) and then "Chairman of the Presidium of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet". In Communist China,Mao Zedong was commonly called "Chairman Mao", as he was officiallyChairman of the Chinese Communist Party andChairman of the Central Military Commission.
In addition to the administrative or executive duties in organizations, the chair presides over meetings.[28] Such duties at meetings include:
While presiding, the chair should remain impartial and not interrupt a speaker if the speaker has the floor and is following the rules of the group.[29] In committees or small boards, the chair votes along with the other members; in assemblies or larger boards, the chair should vote only when it can affect the result.[30] At a meeting, the chair only has one vote (i.e. the chair cannot vote twice and cannot override the decision of the group unless the organization has specifically given the chair such authority).[31]
The powers of the chair vary widely across organizations. In some organizations they have the authority to hire staff and make financial decisions. In others they only make recommendations to aboard of directors, or may have no executive powers, in which case they are mainly aspokesperson for the organization. The power given depends upon the type of organization, its structure, and the rules it has created for itself.
If the chair exceeds their authority, engages in misconduct, or fails to perform their duties, they may face disciplinary procedures. Such procedures may includecensure, suspension, orremoval from office. The rules of the organization would provide details on who can perform these disciplinary procedures.[32] Usually, whoever appointed or elected the chair has the power to discipline them.
There are three common types of chair in public corporations.
Thechief executive officer (CEO) may also hold the title of chair, in which case the board frequently names an independent member of the board as a lead director. This position is equivalent to the position ofprésident-directeur général in France.[citation needed]
Executive chair is an office separate from that of CEO, where the titleholder wields influence over company operations, such asLarry Ellison ofOracle,Douglas Flint ofHSBC andSteve Case ofAOL Time Warner. In particular, the group chair ofHSBC is considered the top position of that institution, outranking the chief executive, and is responsible for leading the board and representing the company in meetings with government figures. Before the creation of the group management board in 2006, HSBC's chair essentially held the duties of a chief executive at an equivalent institution, while HSBC's chief executive served as the deputy. After the 2006 reorganization, the management cadre ran the business, while the chair oversaw the controls of the business through compliance and audit and the direction of the business.[33][34][35]
Non-executive chair is also a separate post from the CEO; unlike an executive chair, a non-executive chair does not interfere in day-to-day company matters. Across the world, many companies have separated the roles of chair and CEO, saying that this move improves corporate governance. The non-executive chair's duties are typically limited to matters directly related to the board, such as:[36]
Many companies in the US have an executive chair; this method of organization is sometimes called the American model. Having a non-executive chair is common in the UK and Canada; this is sometimes called the British model. Expert opinion is rather evenly divided over which is the preferable model.[38] There is a growing push by public market investors for companies with an executive chair to have a lead independent director to provide some element of an independent perspective.[39][40]
The role of the chair in a private equity-backed board differs from the role in non-profit or publicly listed organizations in several ways, including the pay, role and what makes an effective private-equity chair.[41] Companies with both an executive chair and a CEO includeFord,[42]HSBC,[43]Alphabet Inc.,[44] andHP.[45]
A vice- or deputy chair, subordinate to the chair, is sometimes chosen to assist and to serve as chair in the latter's absence, or when a motion involving the chair is being discussed.[46] In the absence of the chair and vice-chair, groups sometimes elect achairpro tempore to fill the role for a single meeting.[47] In some organizations that have both titles, deputy chair ranks higher than vice-chair, as there are often multiple vice-chairs but only a single deputy chair.[48] This type of deputy chair title on its own usually has only an advisory role and not an operational one (such asTed Turner at Time Warner).[49]
An unrelated definition of vice- and deputy chairs describes an executive who is higher ranking or has more seniority than anexecutive vice-president (EVP).
... responsibilities of the Lord Speaker include chairing the Lords debating chamber,...
Typically, these analyses pointed out the use of so-called generic male terms as sexist... As a consequence of these critiques, guides were published that replaced so-called generic male terms with truly generic terms: policeman became police officer; fireman, fire fighter; postman, mail carrier; workman, worker; chairman, chairperson; mankind, humanity; and so on.
Is it possible to change sexist language? ... Much of the debate has centered around two types of change: the coining of new terms (such asMs. to replaceMiss/Mrs., andchairperson to replacechairman andchairwoman), and various proposal to replacehe as the generic third person singular pronoun.
Another factor which we must bear in mind is that women need more words - and more positive words - not less. The removal of sexist words would not leave a large repertoire of words for women to draw upon! ... Some attempts have been made to modify sexist words and there arc signs that this on its own is insufficient to reduce sexism in language. Words such as policeofficer and chairperson have been an attempt to break away from the negative value which female words acquire by the creation of sex-neutral terms
People also object to the use of the ending -man in words referring to professions and roles in society, for examplepostman,spokesman, orchairman. Since women are generally as likely as men to be involved in an occupation or activity nowadays, this type of word is increasingly being replaced by gender-neutral terms, e.g.postal worker,spokesperson, orchair/chairperson.
When you are writing or speaking English it is important to use language that includes both men and women equally. Some people may be very offended if you do not ... Neutral words likeassistant,worker,person orofficer are now often used instead of -man or -woman in the names of jobs ... Neutral words are very common in newspapers, on television and radio and in official writing, in both British English and North American English.
Although chairman can refer to a person of either sex, chairperson or chair is often preferred to avoid giving the idea the person is necessarily male.
Chairperson has, since the 1960s, come to be used widely as an alternative to either chairman or chairwoman. This change has sprung largely from a desire to avoid chairman, which is felt by many to be inappropriate and even sexually discriminatory when applied to a woman ... Chairperson is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.
Many people prefer to say chair or chairperson, because the word chairman suggests that the person in this position is always a man.
These compounds sometimes generate controversy because they are considered sexist by some people who believe that -man necessarily excludes females. Others believe that -man, like the wordman itself, is an accepted and efficient convention that is not meant to be gender-specific.
Chairman can seem inappropriate when applied to a woman, whilechairwoman can be offensive.Chair andchairperson can be applied to either a man or a woman;chair is generally preferred tochairperson
[...] Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Molotov and Abel Yenukidze [...] began discussing the structure of the new government. Lenin did not want to have 'ministers' as such, so Trotsky suggested that they should be called "peoples' commissars". The government itself would be the "Council of People's Commissars" and its chairman would be prime minister, in effect.
On 26 October 1917, Lenin announced the creation of the Council of People's Commissars, having rejected the traditional title ofminister as being too "bourgeois", and named himself the "Chairman of the Council".
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