A corporate board of directors is traditionally organized to represent the interests of shareholders as the main stakeholders within the definite company. From this point, the functions and responsibilities of corporate directors depend on the necessity to regulate the development of the company with references to the interests of all the stakeholders with the main focus on shareholders and employees. Thus, the major functions and responsibilities of the board of directors are to select and appoint principal senior executives, supervise the work of the management team, oversee and control the particular features of the corporation’s business, develop the capital structure, financial objectives and perspectives for the company, and to make decisions about the changes in strategies and practices of the firm. It is necessary to concentrate on the fact that the effective activities of the corporate board of directors can influence the progress of the company and its performance within the industry significantly. Moreover, there are clear connections between the directors’ functions and responsibilities and the firm performance with references to the control of the managers’ work within the company (Bateman and Snell). However, it is important to distinguish between the board’s responsibilities and the functions of managers because one of the main responsibilities of directors is to control the effectiveness of the managers’ work about the policies and decisions developed by the board during the regular meetings. The corporate directors do not work as managers, but they supervise the managers’ activities to contribute to the company’s development. Thus, the above-mentioned functions and responsibilities can be discussed as covering only the main spheres of the board of directors’ influence within the company. From this point, it is necessary to pay attention to the variety of functions which can be performed by directors to meet the interests of shareholders and employees and contribute to the organization’s development within the industry. Cross and Miller state that “the board of directors is the ultimate authority in every corporation. Directors have responsibility for all policymaking decisions necessary to the management of all corporate affairs” (Cross and Miller 430). The orientation to the shareholders is the characteristic feature of the board’s activities because the board of directors is often organized to represent the interests of investors and shareholders within the firm. The board of directors can consist of several members, and the number of directors can depend on the firm and its size. Although the number of directors functioning in the corporation can be different, “directors must act as a body in carrying out routine corporate business” (Cross and Miller 430). It is important to note that directors are usually elected by shareholders, and these persons can be the representatives of the upper management within the organization or independent persons who are not employed within the company (Bateman and Snell). Thus, the main task of these members is to combine their efforts to regulate the development of the definite corporation effectively. It is stated that the memb