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権限保有者は社長を各職位の最高責任者とする

English translation: A appoints B as C

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Japanese term or phrase:ＡはＢをＣとする
English translation:A appoints B as C
Entered by: Roddy Stegemann

15:55 May 26, 2006
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general) / Corporate Organization
Japanese term or phrase: 権限保有者は社長を各職位の最高責任者とする
I am having trouble with a natural translation of 権限保有者(right-holder?) and also some difficulty with the grammar of this sentence. Any help is appreciated...

The full sentence is　当社の権限保有者は、社長を各職位の最高責任者とし、以下を定める職位とする。

(This sentence is followed by an org chart and later a list of position / role names and their responsibilities)
Kurt Hammond
United States
Local time: 16:35
Suggested translation below
Explanation:
Translation: The president shall, by decision of those authorized, preside over the responsibilities of the following persons.

Note: Unless you know the legal nature of the company, you should not read more into the meaning of the words than what is given. Assigning titles other than President, which is clearly stated, would be a grave error in translation.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2006-05-27 00:33:22 GMT)
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You could also replace the phrase "by decision of those authorized" with the phrase "by appointment", as appointments are only made by those authorized to do so.

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Note added at 9 hrs (2006-05-27 01:51:09 GMT)
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One more refinement: As it appears that "those authorized" appoint both the president and those over whose responsibilities he/she presides, you may want to reposition the phrase "by decision of those authorized" at the beginning of the sentence and write: "By decision of those authorized the president shall preside over the responsibilities of the following persons."
Selected response from:

Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 16:35
Grading comment
Thank you everyone for the lively debate. I found this answer to be the most valuable.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4Suggested translation below
Roddy Stegemann
3Having the chairman responsibe for every positioion, the authorized members of the company have...
Ala Rabie
3Authorized personnelshall have the titles set forth below and the president shall be the CEO.
Mikiko
3Manager
snowbees
3 -1The administration shall be consist of the following positions with president as chief officer.
sigmalanguage
3 -2The authorized personnel designated the president chief officer of all officers
humbird


  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
The authorized personnel designated the president chief officer of all officers


Explanation:
Despite your impression, nothing of grammar is wrong in this sentence. Although I surmise you have trouble if 権限保有者 is single or plural (as we always do).
To address this, I believe it is plural as they are talking about corporate body of people, a group of top leaders.

In sum, they voted 社長 the person who holds most authority among those **in authority**, or those to whom the power to elect was delegated, or appointed to do the job （権限保有者たち）.
This sure sounds like a part of 定款.

Well, upon above information provided, please improvise most suitable translation at your disposal.

humbird
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 59

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Roddy Stegemann: Why do you render in English a Japanese sentence that is clearly not written in past tense in the past?
4 hrs
disagree  casey: "authorized personnel" refers to staff of a department store or the like, not company management.
1 day 10 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Having the chairman responsibe for every positioion, the authorized members of the company have...


Explanation:
当社の権限保有者は、社長を各職位の最高責任者とし、以下を定める職位とする。

The authorized members of the company, assigning the chairman the highest responsibility of every position, have decided to make the following positions permanent.

Having the chairman responsibe for every [employment] position[-related matter], the authorized members of the company have decided to make the following [employment] positions permanent.

「権限保有者」につきましては、「Board Members」と訳すことができるかと思っておりますけれど。

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-05-26 17:46:44 GMT)
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こちらもご覧くださいませ。
「with the chairman being the most responsible person in position-related decisions」

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-05-26 17:47:39 GMT)
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*typo:
in every position-related decision
申し訳ございませんでした。

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Note added at 7 hrs (2006-05-26 23:19:38 GMT)
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With the chairman being chief officer, the authorized members of the company have decided to make the following [employment] positions permanent.

Ala Rabie
Egypt
Local time: 01:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Roddy Stegemann: What evidence do you have that those authorized to appoint are "members" of the company? Moreover, what does it mean to hold membership in a company? / Then you should write "board members" or "members of the board".
6 hrs
  -> merely suggesting those who have the authority in a company to be board members.
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Suggested translation below


Explanation:
Translation: The president shall, by decision of those authorized, preside over the responsibilities of the following persons.

Note: Unless you know the legal nature of the company, you should not read more into the meaning of the words than what is given. Assigning titles other than President, which is clearly stated, would be a grave error in translation.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2006-05-27 00:33:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You could also replace the phrase "by decision of those authorized" with the phrase "by appointment", as appointments are only made by those authorized to do so.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2006-05-27 01:51:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

One more refinement: As it appears that "those authorized" appoint both the president and those over whose responsibilities he/she presides, you may want to reposition the phrase "by decision of those authorized" at the beginning of the sentence and write: "By decision of those authorized the president shall preside over the responsibilities of the following persons."

Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 16:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Thank you everyone for the lively debate. I found this answer to be the most valuable.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Ala Rabie: "of the following persons"? are you sure it is usable instead of 'positions'?
45 mins
  -> Positions do not have responsibility, people do. I translate ideas, not words.
neutral  snowbees: See　「職務権限規定」：http://www.sos-soumu.com/html/2/download/010_040_020_020_1.h...
1 day 21 hrs
  -> What is your point? Surely, not that the authority and responsibilities vested in a particular office can be effectuated in the absence of a person occupying the office.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
The administration shall be consist of the following positions with president as chief officer.


Explanation:
Yet another interpretation.

権限保有者: administrative staff
最高責任者: chief officer


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Note added at 5 hrs (2006-05-26 21:49:19 GMT)
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Oops! A typo. Delete 'be' right in front of 'consist'. I first wrote 'shall be composed of'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2006-05-27 07:28:14 GMT)
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Here is my attempt to illustrate the sentence structure:
権限保有者は=権限保有者については=as for 権限保有者
以下を/定める職位/とする=[we] make/the following [positions]/the positions [we hereby] stipulates
社長を各職位の最高責任者とし=making president chief officer
(Words in square brackets have no corresponding English words, but implied in the Japanese sentence.)

The key word here is とする. It simply means 'make', but it also signals that the whole sentence is a rule or a decision made in a meeting.

I am not sure about my translation of 権限保有者, 社長, and 最高責任者. Much depends on the context.
As for 権限保有者 in particular, I can agree with enshrine-san in that it can be authorized members (of some project or whatever).


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Note added at 15 hrs (2006-05-27 07:34:48 GMT)
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Why am I so careless today? I have to make another correction.

WRONG: (Words in square brackets have no corresponding English words, but implied in the Japanese sentence.)
CORRECT: (Words in square brackets have no corresponding Japanese words, but are implied in the sentence.)


sigmalanguage
Japan
Local time: 08:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Roddy Stegemann: "shall be consist" is improper English.
2 hrs
  -> Yes. It's a typo. I've already corrected it.
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1 day 14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Authorized personnelshall have the titles set forth below and the president shall be the CEO.


Explanation:
「当社の権限保有者は、社長を各職位の最高責任者とし、以下を定める職位とする。」
I think the original sentence can be paraphrased as follows:
当社の権限保有者は、以下に(?)定める職位とし、（その中で）社長を各職位の最高責任者とする。
"Authorized personnel of the Company shall have the titles set forth below and the president shall be the chief executive officer."



Mikiko
Local time: 08:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  casey: I like the structure of the translation, but "authorized personnel" generally refers to people who are allowed to go into the back room of a department store, i.e. "staff."
10 mins
neutral  Roddy Stegemann: You have inserted a comma, where one clearly does not appear in the original sentence. As the sentence is perfectly clear without the additional comma, but in a different sense, I do not understand your justification for inserting one.
16 hrs
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Manager


Explanation:
1) 社長＝COO（Chief Operating Officer) appoints managers.
See COO's definition: http://www.answers.com/topic/chief-operating-officer
2)専務、常務という肩書は存在しない。アメリカは Vice President が多いが、このアメリカン Vice President は日本の「副社長」と違って、部長、課長クラスの権限保有者にも乱発する傾向があり、

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Note added at 10 hrs (2006-05-27 02:09:49 GMT)
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See 「肩書きの英語」：
http://www.tecbo.co.jp/tbl-library/title.pdf

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2006-05-28 21:44:59 GMT)
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第１条　（目的）
　 この規程は、会社の業務執行に関する各職位の責任と権限を明確に定め、業務の組織的かつ能率的な運営を図ることを目的とする。

第２条　（用語の定義）
　 この規程における用語の定義は、次のとおりとする。
　 （１） 職位とは、管理組織上の地位をいう
　 （２） 職務とは、経営活動として行うべき業務のうち、各職位の責務を全うするために遂行すべきものとして与えられた具体的な業務をいう
　 （３） 責任とは、その職位にある者が負わなければならない責務をいう
　 （４） 権限とは、職務の遂行にあたって、その行為の効力を最終的に発生させ、その実施を指令する機能および限界をいう
See 「職務権限規定」：
http://www.sos-soumu.com/html/2/download/010_040_020_020_1.h...




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Note added at 2 days6 hrs (2006-05-28 21:57:50 GMT)
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See 「責任・権限のポイント」：
http://www.tqm9000.jp/point/p05.php4?mm=3&sm=3

snowbees
Local time: 08:35
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Roddy Stegemann: リンクは面白いけど、その利用を説明したほうがよいでしょう。
1 day 20 hrs
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