Corporate Board articles from July 2009

Corporate Board archives from July 2009

Building a fiduciary society.
July 1, 2009... While there is plenty of blame to go around for the past year's market meltdown, John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group, sees the crisis as inevitable given the short-term, fast-churning trading incentives of today's fund managers. A return...

Rethinking board composition.
July 1, 2009... Board recruitment has traditionally been what a board considers only when a member either retires or dies. Board succession planning typically never occurred at all. Yet the repeated failures of our corporate board model are compelling boards...

Barriers to CEO succession.
July 1, 2009... CEO turnover is rising as boards struggle to deal with restructuring and potential business failures. Many boards also face their own failure to insist on a sound, workable CEO succession plan. Both chief executives and boards tend to put off...

Scenario analysis for board risk management.
July 1, 2009... There is plenty of blame to go around for the past year's market meltdown, but one charge points directly at corporate boards--they failed to understand the risks firms were taking on. There are effective risk management techniques available to...

Directors say executive pay programs need to change.(Compensation & Recruitment)
July 1, 2009... A majority of directors who serve on corporate boards believe that the executive pay programs of U.S. companies need to change as a result of the financial crisis, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of...

Managers strongly oppose government changes to employment contracts.(Compensation & Recruitment)
July 1, 2009... In a poll of more than 380 corporate executives performed by the executive search firm Michael D. Zinn & Associates, management overwhelmingly opposed the government stepping in and changing existing employment contracts. Eighty-two...

"E-discovery" and privacy concerns continue for corporations.(Disclosure)
July 1, 2009... A survey by Hewlett-Packard finds that, while companies cite information as their highest business priority in 2009, less than half of business decision-makers have a high confidence level in the quality and accessibility of information. ...

CEO turnover declines, despite global downturn.(Strategy & Finance)
July 1, 2009... Facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, corporate boards in North America and Europe are holding fast to their current CEOs, finds management consulting firm Booz & Company in its 2008 annual survey of CEO turnover. The...

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
July 1, 2009... There is no such thing as "directors"--they have as many views and needs as there are individuals. It's also impossible to generalize about their abilities. Some are extraordinarily motivated--they love the job, and want to know everything. And...

Books received.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2009... CEO Material. By Debra Benton. McGraw-Hill. $24.95. No one who works in a corporation believes that he or she would not make good CEO material, and Benton's book looks at the specific personal qualities a "wannabe" needs to nurture. Though most...

Recent board elections.(Directors' Register)
July 1, 2009... ALLETE, Inc. has elected to its board Len C. Rodman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Black & Veatch Holding Company. Atmos Energy Corporation has elected to its board Robert C. Grable, partner at Kelly Hart & Hallman...

Robert Tricker: inventing "Corporate Governance".(Conversations)(Interview)
July 1, 2009... For perspectives on how corporate governance has" evolved over the years', especially during the past year's economic crisis, one of the best authorities is the man who invented the term "corporate governance." Dr. Robert Tricker was the...