personal union / dual role
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dual role
The holding of two or more offices or functions by the same person, especially in companies, associations, or organizations.
Da der Geschäftsführer gleichzeitig auch Finanzvorstand ist, liegt hier eine Personalunion vor.
Since the managing director is also the chief financial officer, this is a dual role.
The word is made up of 'Personal' and 'Union' (union). Here, 'Personal' is derived from 'Person' (person), not from 'Personal' in the sense of staff. So it describes a union created by a single person.
Die Personalunion der beiden Abteilungen wurde durch den neuen Bereichsleiter geschaffen.
The dual leadership of the two departments was created by the new division manager.
This noun is very often used in the fixed expression 'in Personalunion' (in a dual role / in personal union). Typical verbs in this context are 'leiten' (to manage), 'führen' (to lead), or 'sein' (to be).
Sie leitet das Marketing und den Vertrieb in Personalunion.
She manages marketing and sales in a dual role.
You can tell from context whether the business meaning or the constitutional-law meaning is intended. Terms like 'Geschäftsführer' (managing director) or 'Verein' (association) point to the accumulation of offices, while words like 'Königreich' (kingdom), 'Staat' (state), or 'Monarch' (monarch) point to the connection between states.
Die Personalunion zwischen dem Vorstandsvorsitz und der Geschäftsführung ist in großen Firmen selten.
The dual role of chair of the board and managing director is rare in large companies.
'Personalunion' (personal union / dual role) is a term used in technical and written language. It is found especially in texts about history, politics, law, and corporate management.
Im Gesellschaftsrecht gibt es klare Regeln, wann eine Personalunion zulässig ist.
In corporate law, there are clear rules about when a dual role is permissible.
state / federal state
'der Bundesstaat' and 'die Personalunion' both describe forms of political connection between states. A 'Bundesstaat' is a single overall federal state with constituent states that have certain rights of their own. In a 'Personalunion' (personal union), several states remain legally separate but have the same head of state. The words can be confused because in both cases several political units are involved. The important difference is: in a Bundesstaat, there is one common state; in a Personalunion, there is only one common person at the top.
In einer Personalunion können zwei Länder denselben König haben und trotzdem getrennte Staaten bleiben.
In a personal union, two countries can have the same king and still remain separate states.
Die USA sind ein Bundesstaat, in dem die einzelnen Staaten eigene Gesetze haben.
The USA is a federal state in which the individual states have their own laws.