Directors & Boards articles from June 2001

Directors & Boards archives from June 2001

A winning culture.(corporate culture)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 22, 2001... IN THE MID-'70s I went to work for the Hay Group, a human resources consulting company with 100 offices in 30 countries. In the early '70s Hay was one of the first consulting firms to develop a practice in the assessment of corporate culture,...

Barbs and boards.(executive compensation)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... IN EDITING Bruce Ellig's article on executive compensation, titled "Is Everything Old New Again" (page 42), I recalled a fascinating document that crossed my desk in the early 1980s. It was a copy of a speech that Edmund W. Littlefield gave at...

No chickening out.(contract law)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... When the Delaware court orders specific performance, boards should listen. DELAWARE Vice Chancellor Leo Strine's mid-June 2001 decision ordering chicken giant Tyson Foods to close its acquisition of fresh meat company IBP Inc. merits...

A limit to charisma.(executive recruitment)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... There is, by definition, a great attraction to the charismatic job candidate. Therein lies risk. CHARISMA: n. a magical quality that arouses loyalty of large numbers of people; a magnetic personal appeal. When coupled with competence, it...

Contesting erosion of your D&O coverage.(management liability protection)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... It is not easy to get the full benefits to which you are entitled. YOUR COMPANY bought a D&O policy that promised the broadest management liability protection available anywhere. So how come, now that a securities class-action lawsuit has...

Has the time come for a chief privacy officer?(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Why your company should be proactive when it comes to privacy. THE NEW ECONOMY has introduced many new abbreviations with which directors and boards must grapple, including ISP, HTML, and ICANN. One important new acronym, however, should...

How 'green' is this Bush going to be?(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... As the President's environmental agenda plays out, be watchful -- and continue to be proactive. WHERE DOES THE Bush White House stand on the environment? What effect will Senator Jeffords' GOP defection have on environmental policy? What...

Who's governing the brand?(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Here are some pointers on making discussion of your brand a regular board agenda item. A BRAND HAS an intrinsic value that a mere business lacks. The higher the brand's relative value, the higher the profit margin and the higher the...

The most important role of the board.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Since great CEOs are hard to find and hire, boards must be skillful in selecting company leaders. THE MOST IMPORTANT responsibility of the board of directors is to hire the CEO (and then measure his or her performance). When hiring a CEO,...

The Board Meeting Rescue Kit.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Published by the National Center for Nonprofit Boards, Washington D.C., 32 pages, $12.00 WHEN I COMPLETED my final board meeting as a management consultant last year, the chairman of my client company turned to me and said: "How do you...

Creative Destruction.(Review)
June 22, 2001... Richard Foster Sarah Kaplan Published by Doubleday/Currency Books, New York, 367 pages, $27.50 THIS BOOK, Creative Destruction: Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market -- and How to Successfully Transform Them,...

The art of being a VC director.
June 22, 2001... Post-irrational exuberance, the need for 'hands-on' guidance has never been greater. FOR EARLY-STAGE companies today, the competitive environment is changing rapidly. The pressure to achieve profitability -- and to achieve it quickly -- is...

Corporate Boards: New Strategies for Adding Value.(Review)
June 22, 2001... Jay A. Conger Edward E. Lawler III David L. Finegold IN THIS NEWLY PUBLISHED book on corporate governance, the authors combine extensive interviews with business executives along with their own academic theorizing to discuss the...

William S. Cohen, at full throttle.(President Clinton's Secretary of Defense)
June 22, 2001... With the energy and prowess that have characterized his life in public service, President Clinton's Secretary of Defense launches his next campaign -- success as a corporate director and global business adviser. WILLIAM S. COHEN readily...

Succession: The need for detailed insight.(evaluating a company's Chief Executive Officer)
June 22, 2001... Leadership due diligence regarding current CEO effectiveness and potential CEO successors is the missing ingredient in effective governance. Here is a methodology for making sure the board is armed with the right information, processed in the...

The PMI board pack: New diligence in M & A.(mergers and acquisition)
June 22, 2001... How can a board help protect shareholders from post-merger integrations gone awry? By demanding that there be a board pack detailing a credible and accountable PMI plan. Here is what directors should look for in that board pack. WELCOME TO...

Governance 'term sheet' for a buyout.(management buyout)
June 22, 2001... If you're going to buy your own company, here are key governance issues that you need to get agreement on with your equity partner right at the outset -- while you still have some leverage. MANAGEMENT BUYOUTS (MBOs) are acquisitions of an...

Is everything old new again?(executive compensation planning)
June 22, 2001... When it comes to executive compensation, a review of the historical record of executive pay design can be helpful in crafting the right plan for your company. NEW ECONOMY tech stock darling of Wall Street, having soared over 5000% the past...

Financial oversight: A 'three-legged stool'.(audit committees)
June 22, 2001... Each leg -- the audit committee, management, and the external audit firm -- has a unique role that must be recognized and efficiently coordinated. PROPOUND CHANGES are transforming the corporate financial reporting realm. Economic markets...

Bankruptcy and D&O coverage.(bankruptcy planning)
June 22, 2001... When bankruptcy looms or is in fact filed, board members must reexamine their current coverage. The ramifications of a bankruptcy filing raise significant insurance issues. THERE IS CONCERN in the D&O marketplace that a filing for...

Delicate state: Board selection in bankruptcy.
June 22, 2001... A company still reeling from bankruptcy needs the right board to get back on its feet. Here are some guidelines for building a strong board to lead the comeback. A company coming back from bankruptcy is not unlike someone who has suffered...

Directors Roster.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 22, 2001... In affiliation with Spencer Stuart -- a quarterly record of new director appointments THE AUTHORS OF THE JUST-published book, Corporate Boards: New Strategies for Adding Value (see review on page 17), devote a sizable section to what they...

Maria Elena Lagomasino.(CEO of JP Morgan Private Bank)
June 22, 2001... Early-life family experience in fleeing repression and suffering devastating financial loss has molded this banker's mission of safeguarding assets. THE TIME WAS 1960. The setting was Fidel Castro's Communist Cuba. The scene: an...

Christie Hefner.(MarketWatch.com)
June 22, 2001... This Internet pioneer is the 'go-to' director recruit for MarketWatch.com, which has ambitions to be the 'go-to, financial Web site. WHEN SHE WAS a student attending Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., during the 1970s, Christie Hefner...