Corporate Board articles from January 2007

Corporate Board archives from January 2007

Business ethics: the key role of corporate governance.
January 1, 2007... With growing global pressure for enforcable business ethics and social responsibility, what role should a board of directors play in setting the corporation's tone and policies? Worldwide, the authors find that boards have been on the leading...

Privacy rules and board investigations.
January 1, 2007... Before the scandal broke over Hewlett-Packard's board investigations, the most common criticism of such corporate inquiries was that they typically turned up too little. Today, however, board investigations are in the spotlight for the opposite...

The changing face of equity pay.
January 1, 2007... Equity compensation is losing popularity with U.S. corporations, especially broad-based programs for mid-level and below employees. However, your board needs to look closely at how changes in your equity pay will affect employee motivation....

Best practices in boardroom leadership.
January 1, 2007... Throughout the world, corporate boards face a need to build their own leadership, independent of management and able to shape an autonomous board agenda. This is nurturing a variety of different board and committee leadership models as each...

A strong board role for anti-fraud programs.
January 1, 2007... Fraud within your corporation can have devastating effects. Aside from financial losses, there is damaged reputation with customers and investors, potential regulatory actions, and often a sharp hit to your stock price. This makes direct board...

Financial executives see more board scrutiny due to Sarbanes-Oxley.(Audit)
January 1, 2007... The vast majority of senior finance executives at public companies report increased board scrutiny as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley. More than one-half, though, say that Sarbanes-Oxley, and concerns about increased director liability, has not made...

Board pay reaches an all-time high.(Compensation & Recruitment)
January 1, 2007... Median total remuneration for independent directors at the 500 largest U.S. companies in 2005/2006 rose 14 percent, from $162,363 to $185,000. Higher cash retainers for board service (up 11 percent) and committee chairmanship (up 25 percent to...

Financial issues top the ethical concerns facing corporations.(Corporate Responsibility)
January 1, 2007... Integrity Interactive Corporation has announced the results of a study of millions of employee compliance-training records that reveals the top ethics and compliance-training topics addressed by major corporations today. The 350 companies...

The Delaware Supreme Court rules on directors' oversight standards.(Liability & Litigation)
January 1, 2007... In a significant decision issued on November 6, 2006, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled on the standard to be applied under Delaware law when assessing the personal liability of corporate directors for failing to adequately oversee the...

Litigation is America's new growth industry.(Liability & Litigation)
January 1, 2007... American business, known the world over for its entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness, could be recognized for another attribute--its time spent on legal disputes. That is the conclusion of a survey of corporate counsel from...

ISS releases its 2007 corporate governance policies.(Shareholders & Investors)
January 1, 2007... Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has released its 2007 U.S., Canadian and international proxy voting policy updates. ISS analysts will begin applying the new policies for all companies with shareholder meeting dates on or after February...

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
January 1, 2007... Any strong-willed person needs to be protected from themselves. You've got to have people who can stand up to you and say "That's nonsense, you're wrong" You really appreciate those people because they save you from a lot of dumb things. They...

Five years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
January 1, 2007... [As CEO,] remember that you have two sets of bosses, the directors and the stockholders. Regular, frequent, honest talking through things by the CEO, especially with those directors, is essential. Michael Useem, Spoken & Written,...

Books received.(The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping The Corporate Agenda)(Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping The Corporate Agenda. By Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson. Harvard Business School Press. $29.95. There has been a global democratization in corporate share ownership...

Articles & speeches.(Spoken & Written)
January 1, 2007... The social responsibility of corporations is always tied to the proponents' own views of compassion or justice or avoidance of a cataclysm. But the logic of their own arguments requires that essentially private corporations be viewed as somehow...

Recent board elections.(Directors' Register)
January 1, 2007... Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. has elected to its board John S. Brinzo, chairman of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. has elected to its board Jane E. Kiernan, general manager of Clintec Nutrition. Arch...

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg: regulating governance to death?(Conversations)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... A true legend of Wall Street, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg built AIG from a failing company when he joined it in 1962, to the world's largest insurance giant in 2005. However, in that year AIG and Greenberg found themselves in the sights of New...