Abstract:

This paper’s significance is its argument that there is no such legal basis to a managerial prerogative. The objective of the paper is to critically examine the managerial prerogative, to see what it means. Managerial prerogatives are described broadly as the manager’s right to manage. Management appears to ignore how the law circumscribes its decisions. This represents a serious disconnect. The research question asks whether a private manager can exercise what he or she calls a prerogative. The paper tries to show that prerogative is derived ultimately from the Crown, and as such, is non-delegable to private managers. Argument commences by providing a briefing on the managerial prerogatives. The next section discusses prerogatives as non-statutory powers, followed by a short section on Lord Bacon’s views on whether or not prerogative is delegable. The research will suggest that, by law, no private manager could claim to be a lawfully appointed delegate to exercise any royal prerogative.