Directors & Boards articles from March 1998

Directors & Boards archives from March 1998

Do you sincerely want to be sued? As ugly Y2K litigation looms, prudent directors should pause to consider their own exposure. (Year 2000 computer problem)
March 22, 1998... Following a period of high living, colorful 1960s financial operator Bernie Cornfeld became closely acquainted with the interior decor of the Swiss jail system. You can read his story in the book Do You Sincerely Want to be Rich? Today, you...

From honoree to contributor: the metamorphosis of the director's role requires that some effort be put into appraising performance.
March 22, 1998... Toward the end of his autobiography Mark Twain describes the ineffable joy he felt on being offered an honorary degree by Oxford University. He reckoned this "decoration" (like a found coin, he said) to be worth 25 such honors from any other...

Disclose board leadership structure.
March 22, 1998... Let's mandate that boards tell shareholders whether they do, or do not, have a lead director. CEOs in the United States have long fought the separation of the positions of CEO and chair of the board. According to Korn/Ferry International's...

On the Profession of Management.
March 22, 1998... Since 1950, Professor Peter Drucker has appeared in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) with 32 articles. This new book from Harvard Business School Press is a selection of 12 of those articles and one interview with him that were published in the...

The Leadership Engine.
March 22, 1998... The hypothesis of The Leadership Engine - How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level is simple: Companies that are successful over a prolonged period have developed leaders at all levels of the organization, not simply succession...

Sandy Weill, pragmatic dreamer: Travelers Group CEO Sanford Weill talks about his approach to dealmaking, governance, and life in and out of the spotlight.(Cover Story)(Interview)
March 22, 1998... Travelers Group CEO Sanford Weill talks about his approach to dealmaking, governance, and life in and out of the spotlight. At approximately 7 a.m. on April 6, 1998, Sanford I. Weill, chairman and CEO of Travelers Group Inc., and John S. Reed,...

Technology company boards: a new model. (includes related article on Year 2000 computer problem)
March 22, 1998... The traditional profile of a board member may be inadequate for a technology company. Here are the traits and attributes that companies should look for. Many years ago, I heard a fast-track corporate executive say that he wanted his management...

Technology company boards: in search of the differences.
March 22, 1998... Survey results provide evidence that technology company boards are smaller, younger, more fluid, and demonstrate other distinctive characteristics. Do high-technology boards differ dramatically from boards in other industries? Are they in the...

Profiles in high-tech board composition.
March 22, 1998... Here is how 10 bellweather technology companies have peopled their boards and structured themselves for governance oversight. From the general overview by author Richard Kotz of the evolution of technology company boards (see page 26) and the...

There's no business like e-business.(Shareholder Value)
March 22, 1998... E-business is the next revolution and, just as Henry Ford did, it is imperative that CEOs and boards position themselves today to maximize every opportunity it brings. Early in World War I, Henry Ford sailed a ship to Europe with a group of...

Learning from successful high-tech CEOs.
March 22, 1998... Here is a collection of traits that strongly correlate to high performance, especially in an environment of fast-paced change. As global business environments become increasingly difficult to predict, one thing has become clear: Companies need...

Governance during a Chapter 11 case. (includes related articles)
March 22, 1998... Once a corporation becomes a Chapter 11 debtor, new considerations and forces relating to governance come into play. The advent of mega-Chapter 11 cases during recent years is not surprising. Since the early 1980s, many major corporations faced...

Blank slate: reconstructing a board. (board of directors)
March 22, 1998... Companies undergoing reorganization or restructuring often must assemble a new board. Here is some advice for succeeding at this daunting task. Over the past year we have undertaken multiple director searches for more than half of our board...

Directors Roster. (new corporate director appointments)
March 22, 1998... In affiliation with Spencer Stuart a quarterly record of new director appointments This edition of the Directors Roster features 210 companies adding 263 new corporate directors, many of whom - in the spirit of the technology-oriented articles...

Philip A. Marineau: from sports drinks and milk to beer and colas, a PepsiCo executive teams up with the Meredith board.(Director Spotlight)
March 22, 1998... The "Father of Gatorade" has been recruited to the board of Meredith Corp., a diversified media company with annual revenues approaching $900 million. Philip A. Marineau is the former Quaker Oats Co. executive who propelled its Gatorade beverage...

Rosemarie Greco: one of the country's top woman bankers reemerges from retirement to take on civic and directorship challenges.(Director Spotlight)
March 22, 1998... A few months before the announced merger of First Union Corp. and CoreStates Financial Corp., Philadelphia's last remaining major independent bank, Rosemarie Greco resigned from her position as CoreStates' president. This sudden move puzzled the...

The denial trap: how a board of directors unwittingly contributes to its company's demise.
March 22, 1998... It is a tragic fact of business life that many healthy companies fail not because of an irrevocable downward spiral of their financial health but because of management's inability to face those problems and take action. In my 15 years as a...