The board of White plc is discussing the filling of a vacant position arising from the death of Lord White. A list of possible candidates is as follows:
(a) Lord Sperring who is a well known company director and who was the managing director of Sperring Manufacturers before he switched to being a professional director.
(b) John Spate, B.Eng., PhD who is managing director of a successful, innovative high technology company and will be taking retirement in four months time.
(c) Gerald Stewart B.Com who is the retired managing director of Spry and Montgomery advertising agency which operates in six countries being England and five other commonwealth countries.
The managing director leads the discussion and focuses on the likelihood of the three candidates being able to work in harmony with other members of the board and suggests that John Spate is too radical to be a member of the board of White plc. The other members of the board agree that he has a history of looking at things differently and would tend to distract the board.
The chairman of the board suggests that Lord Sperring is very well connected in the business community and would be able to open many doors for the managing director. It was unanimously agreed that the chairman should approach Lord Sperring to see if he would be willing to join the board.
Critically discuss the appointment process.