Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of Carnival Corporation consists of 14 members where three members are internal ones with the Chairman and CEO Mickey Arison, and four members worked in the company previously. The other seven members are external employees. Mickey Arison and his family control the comparably significant shares of stock (36%) when the group of directors controls 30% of the total shares.
Thus, the part of the stock is privately held, and the other part is publicly traded with the help of the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. The voting rights of the shareholders are the same in spite of using different stock exchanges.
The board members have the considerable experience in controlling the national and international companies. For instance, Sir John Parker is the Chairman of National Grid plc, Anglo American plc, and Vice Chairman of DP World in Dubai, and he contributes much to developing international operations, basing on his knowledge.
The other board members also have significant backgrounds and experience and provide the independent view on the progress of the company, using their analytical skills. The experience of the board members also depends on the period of their serving on the board. Thus, Mickey Arison and Robert Dickinson took the leading positions in the 1990s, and the other members serve on the board during several years.
The issue of the environmental sustainability is important for the company, and the board members focused on adopting the requirements of International Standard ISO 14001:2004 in relation to reducing the carbon dioxide pollution and managing waste on ship.
The board members are actively involved in strategic management, and they are responsible for managing the strategic development with setting the perspectives and regulating the management policies. Moreover, the managers’ proposals are always discussed from the point of environment sustainability to respond to the company’s strategy.
Top Management
The company’s top management consists of the principal officers who are Mickey Arison, Howard Frank, David Bernstein, Richard Ames, Arnaldo Perez, and Larry Freedman, and the persons who regulate the work of different operational segments such as Carnival Cruise Lines or Princess Cruises. The positions are taken according to the officers’ knowledge and background.
The presidents and CEO of such lines as, for instance, Carnival Australia and Carnival UK were chosen according to their international work experience. The executives from the acquired companies are the considered part of the top management team to create the strong global cruise line.
The most experienced representatives of the company’s management are Mickey Arison and Howard Frank who take their positions for several years, and the other officers are re-elected and serve less than three years. Top managers are internally hired.
Carnival Corporation’s top mangers follow the systematic approach to strategic management based on developing a strong global cruise line with references to several operating segments and corporate brands to respond to the requirements of all the sectors of the developed cruise market which are the contemporary, premium, and luxury sectors.
Top managers are actively involved in the strategic management process. They regulate the work of operating segments and corporate brands, work out new approaches to competing within the market, orienting to the European cruise market as the most beneficial one. The organization of top management allows speaking about effective interaction with lower managers and the board members.
Strategic decisions are made by the managers with references to ethical and social issues as the fight with terrorism. The management is environmentally sustainable. Top managers have the significant amount of stocks with reference to Mickey Arison as the senior manager. Basing on the company’s previous achievements, it is possible to speak about the managers’ skills to cope with challenges and orient to further successes.