Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

als Vorstand

English translation:

in his role as CEO

Added to glossary by Nicole Trebbin
Jun 5, 2009 19:30
15 yrs ago
3 viewers *
German term

als Vorstand

German to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general)
Der ganze Satz lautet: "Das operative Geschäft wird von Herrn xxx als Vorstand geleitet."

Macht "...in his capacity as director" Sinn?

Es handelt sich übrigens um eine AG.

Discussion

Nicole Trebbin (asker) Jun 6, 2009:
@ Anne-Marie: The company in question is a German one. The readership cannot be defined. It depends on the potential customer.
RobinB Jun 5, 2009:
Vorstand polysemy So I don't have to disagree with absolutely everybody, I would like to point out that Vorstand means both the body itself (executive board, management board, board of management) and a member of that body. What the German text is referring to is Herr XX as a *member* of the executive board. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's the VoVo, and I rather think that what the text is getting is that he's the COO rather than the CEO.

The generic translation of Vorstand is "Executive Board" unless the company concerned prefers to use "Management Board" or "Board of Management". Some banks have been using the deprecated term "Board of Managing Directors" since the early post-war years (when British banks didn't have Chairmen, CEOs, CFOs, etc., but merely managing directors - no PLCs in those days).

BTW, the German translation of Board of Directors is "Board of Directors" or Verwaltungrat (which itself is another example of polysemy...)
Ellen Kraus Jun 5, 2009:
to Ted: sorry, but I cant share your views. Board of Directors is NOT limited to use in Switzerland. and as I said earlier, there are a number of different terms for the person presiding over it. The Senior Executive President Administration would be the man in charge of the administrative part; he may just as well be called chief executive, or as one of us suggested chief executive officer CEO. the term Board of Directors (in German also known as Kuratorium ) is widely used in USA but also in Germany and Austria. In view of the multitude of terms for the word in question it doesnt make sense to insist on a specific term. If you look up the word Vorstand you´ll come across more than a dozen of different words.
Anne-Marie Grant (X) Jun 5, 2009:
Is this for an American or a GB readership? -

Proposed translations

+3
48 mins
Selected

in his role as CEO

Sorry for answering this question, this is not my language pair...
I would say CEO or Chief Executive Officer: xxx manages the operations in his role as CEO (or Chief Executive Officer)
Peer comment(s):

agree fairfaxco@gmail : I didn't see your entry until after I hit "SUBMIT".....sorry : )
19 mins
agree Helen Shiner
24 mins
agree Lirka : as a CEO
37 mins
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks! I will use this one as it seems to be the most suitable translation in this context! "
+1
8 mins

as Chariman of the Management Board

or Board of Management

"Vorstand" when used to refer to a single person means the Vorstandsvorsitzender
Peer comment(s):

disagree Ellen Kraus : Chairman ist der Vorsitzende einer Sitzung des Board of Directors. Er leitet die Sitzung aber nicht die Firma
7 mins
A beg to disagree. I have seen far too many instances of Vorstand used in EXACTLY this context mean referring to the Vorstandvorsitzender. And second a German Vorstand cannot be called a BoD since it is not even closely comparable.
agree Helen Shiner
1 hr
agree Kim Metzger
1 hr
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-3
9 mins

in his capacity as President of the Board of Directors

he is presiding over the Board

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Note added at 19 Min. (2009-06-05 19:49:58 GMT)
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ein Senior Executive President Administration ist z.B. der kaufmännische Vorstand
für jeden Bereich einer AK (Finanz, Produktion, Verkauf) gibt es für die jeweiligen Vorstände eine andere Bezeichnung, S.E.P. Sales, Finances etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 Min. (2009-06-05 19:51:13 GMT)
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oben sollte es AG (statt AK) heißen.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Ted Wozniak : A Vorstand (the board) can only be called a BoD in a Swiss context but not in a German one given the dual-system (Vorstand and Ausichtsrat), not is President comparable between the 2 systems. I could agree with CEO since many German firms have adopted tha
41 mins
disagree Helen Shiner : with Ted
1 hr
disagree RobinB : A board of directors is a single-tier board, while the Vorstand is one part of the two-tier board system in Germany. Unfortunately it's totally inaccurate to refer to a German Vorstand as a BoD, though certain banks (only) do so for historical reasons.
2 hrs
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1 hr

as CEO (...of the Executive Board)

In some European Union countries, there are two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes (elected by the shareholders). In these countries, the CEO presides over the executive board and the chairman presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people. This ensures a distinction between management by the executive board and governance by the supervisory board...


The CEO would more closely describe the role of Mr.XXXX , according to the text excerpt provided above by the 'asker'.
Example sentence:

In these countries, the CEO presides over the executive board and the chairman presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people.

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+1
4 hrs

COO

I think that RobinB has hit the nail on the head. He said:

"I would like to point out that Vorstand means both the body itself (executive board, management board, board of management) and a member of that body. What the German text is referring to is Herr XX as a *member* of the executive board. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's the VoVo, and I rather think that what the text is getting is that he's the COO rather than the CEO. "

So - please note the words *operative Geschäft*.

(He confused me initially with his EN>DE 'Verwaltungsrat" [CH?], but I found sufficient references to surprise me). Not relevant here, so don't let the polysemy get to you.
Peer comment(s):

agree RobinB : CH and LUX actually, but we shouldn't let polysemy keep us awake at night :-). In all *correctly* translated documents, a UK/US/CAN etc. Board (of Directors) is translated into German as (der) "Board (of Directors)", never as Vorstand.//Right!
11 hrs
Thanks Robin. The act of a true gentleman, considering that I notionally 'nicked' it from you. But somebody had to post it, right?
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+2
1 day 3 hrs

Chief Operating Officer

From the context, the sentence refers to "operations." This has to do with company management. A company is managed by its Executive Committee (Vorstand), its members are officers, for example, the chief exective officer, the chief financial officer, the chief operating officer, etc. This has ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY nothing to do with the Board of Directors.

The head of the Board of Directors (Verwaltungsrat, Aufsichtsrat) is the Chairman of the Board. In some countries, the same individual may serve on the both the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. In other countries this is against the law. Have a look at this article about the how the directors of the Deutsche Bundesbahn just named new officers. Hope this helps. Next time specify the source country and target country.
Peer comment(s):

agree Anne-Marie Grant (X) : This is clearer than COO so has my vote
21 mins
agree Textklick : @Anne-Marie. Clearer?
22 hrs
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