Corporate Board articles from January 2008

Corporate Board archives from January 2008

Governance challenges are nothing new.
January 1, 2008... Business scandals drive regulatory and governance reforms that add to the burdens facing directors, but which ultimately strengthen corporate America. While that describes the past few years of post-SOX governance, Warren Batts, a long-time...

Succession planning: halt the revolving door.
January 1, 2008... High-profile (and high-cost) CEO departures such as those at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup reveal that even our largest and most sophisticated corporations have neglected sound succession planning. Failure here lies squarely in the boardroom,...

The board's role in ending investor skepticism.
January 1, 2008... It is no surprise that the general public and investors in particular, have a low opinion of the ethics of business leaders. However, this investor cynicism also extends to corporate boards. Directors are too often viewed as ineffectual, and...

Majority board election: where do we stand?
January 1, 2008... The past several years have seen accelerating change in the ways corporations nominate and elect board members. While the SEC battles over rules to allow shareholder access to the proxy nomination ballot, a majority of large U.S. companies have...

Year two for SEC pay disclosure rules.
January 1, 2008... The 2007 proxy year saw the SEC's new executive compensation disclosure rules come into effect--and no one was very happy with the results. The Commission has been making clear where fliers need to make improvements on clarity, specificity and...

Key factors found for the most effective anti-fraud programs.(Audit)
January 1, 2008... More detailed fraud risk assessments, greater involvement by senior management, and more active anti-fraud efforts by mid- and low-level employees are key characteristics of companies that are rated "more effective" at controlling fraud,...

Directors show increased independence and company oversight.(Boardroom Practice)
January 1, 2008... Business Roundtable has released its fifth annual survey of corporate governance practices among its members. The latest survey found an increase in the number of independent directors serving on corporate boards and a significant rise in the...

Supply chain ethics concerns are a growing business problem.(Liability & Litigation)
January 1, 2008... Integrity Interactive Corporation has surveyed 108 Global 2000 companies and found corporate ethics and compliance programs do not extend to their global supply chains. The survey found that 78 percent of companies do not include suppliers in...

Cash deals, low P/E's are key to M&A success.(Mergers & Acquisitions)
January 1, 2008... With the market outlook mixed on mergers-and-acquisitions activity, companies need an edge in evaluating targets. An analysis by KPMG International and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business of 510 corporate deals found that cash...

Changes seen for the role of COO.(Strategy & Finance)
January 1, 2008... The position of Chief Operating Officer in leading corporations is being transformed--not eliminated--according to a report by The Conference Board. "The scope and intensity of leadership demands today call for a team approach at the top,"...

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
January 1, 2008... For some of management and too many board members, [technology] is a black box. We need experts to translate the benefits and risks, and we must rely on their opinions. A project requiring board approval for a new building will evoke lively...

Five years ago in the corporate board.(Retrospectives)
January 1, 2008... Too many boards have abandoned their legal and fiduciary responsibilities. They have become more responsive to the CEO and management than to the shareholders. In doing so, they abandoned their governance role and jumped on the bandwagon to get...

Books received.(Bibliography)
January 1, 2008... Launching a Leadership Revolution. By Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. Business Plus. $23.99. While every other business book published today has the word "leaders" somewhere in its title, this one takes the useful approach of offering tools...

Articles & speeches.(Spoken & Written)
January 1, 2008... Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially minded business leaders are successful not because they set an unchanging goal and then labor to achieve it. Rather, they succeed as agile seekers looking for many different ways to identify and capture...

Recent board elections.(Directors' Register)
January 1, 2008... Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has elected to its board Adrian Adams, president and chief executive officer of Sepracor Inc. Atmos Energy Corporation has elected to its board Richard W. Douglas, executive vice president and member of the...

Anne Simpson: how U.S. shareholder access looks from overseas.(Conversations)(Interview)
January 1, 2008... The ability of American shareholders to access corporate proxies for director nomination and other initiatives has become one of our most contentious issues. The 2007 AIG decision cracked the door open for limited proxy access, along with...