Corporate Board articles from November 2003

Corporate Board archives from November 2003

WorldCom: the governance lessons.(report Restoring Trust by Richard C. Breeden)
November 1, 2003... Among the corporate scandals which have rocked American business, WorldCom stands out as possibly being the biggest in monetary terms, including the largest single accounting fraud in U.S. history. In late August 2003, a final report on the...

The performance management game.
November 1, 2003... "Earnings management," misuse of financial reserves, and overall accounting hijinks have come under attack lately. Any performance and financial targets which your board sets for management can lead to their own unique incentives (both good and...

Microsoft, option pay, and your board.
November 1, 2003... Microsoft's decision last summer to replace its famed stock option pay program with restricted stock unit grants seemed like the final death knell for the 1990's option pay culture. However, there has yet been no rush among other companies to...

Twelve myths of corporate governance.
November 1, 2003... The corporate governance crisis the world has faced in the past two years was due to our failure to follow the basic rules of good governance--or was it? Perhaps some of these accepted governance rules are myths, beliefs about what does (and...

Reducing the costs of corporate governance.
November 1, 2003... All the discussion of how dangerous, complex and time-consuming corporate governance has become overlooks a more immediate trend--governance has become far more expensive. While it may seem impossible for your board to provide better governance...

Sarbanes-Oxley has increased audit committee effectiveness.(Audit)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... James H. Quigley, chief executive officer of Deloitte & Touche LLP, in September told an audience at the National Press Club that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is having a positive affect on corporate governance, causing audit committees to...

CFOs name their top Sarbanes-Oxley challenges.(Audit)(Protiviti Inc. chief financial officer survey)
November 1, 2003... The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is presenting chief financial officers (CFOs) with significant challenges beyond the well-publicized executive certification and internal control requirements, according to a study by Protiviti Inc., an internal audit and...

Board composition changes to meet new governance demands.(Boardroom Composition)(Spencer Stuart report)
November 1, 2003... Research by search firm Spencer Stuart details how the Sarbanes-Oxley law is transforming boardrooms and corporate governance. Spencer Stuart extracted the information for this 18th-annual study of corporate governance in S&P 500 corporations...

Directors see major changes in their compensation mix.(Compensation & Recruitment)(Todd Organization report)
November 1, 2003... America's largest public companies are changing how they pay non-employee, independent directors, and paying a sharply higher premium for audit committee chairmen. These are the central findings of an analysis by The Todd Organization of...

Corporations are not disclosing their greenhouse gas exposures.(Disclosure)(Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection)
November 1, 2003... Most of America's biggest carbon dioxide-emitting companies, including ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Southern Company, and Xcel Energy, are not adequately disclosing the financial risks posed by climate change and also are...

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
November 1, 2003... When companies ride a fad with little to show for their efforts, the loss must be measured in more than the money spent. Ignored or half-hearted attempts at change stand little chance of generating results and will cause a company to lose...

Five years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
November 1, 2003... The huge size of these [CEO pay] increases can't be sustained. We did some research, and found that the annual average top CEO pay increase works out to 39 percent, so at this rate CEOs will eventually earn the entire GNP. Something has to come...

Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World.(Books Received)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
November 1, 2003... Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World. By Jay W. Lorsch and Colin B. Carter. Harvard Business School Press. $29.95. The authors give a good overview of current thinking on corporate board issues, with special...

Spoken & written: articles & speeches.
November 1, 2003... Perhaps no single act has done more for the bottom line of the legal profession than last year's passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform act. In the year since the law took effect, every firm with a coffee maker and a receptionist in the...

Acuity Brands, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Acuity Brands, Inc. has elected to its board Jay M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of National Distributing Company, Inc.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)
November 1, 2003... Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has elected to its board Bruce Claflin, president and chief executive officer of 3Com Corporation.

Alliant Energy Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Alliant Energy Corporation has elected to its board Michael L. Bennett, president and chief executive officer of Terra Industries Inc., and Ann K. Newhall, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Rural Cellular Corporation.

Avista Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Avista Corporation has elected to its board Jack W. Gustavel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Idaho Independent Bank.

Convergys Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Convergys Corporation has elected to its board Zoe Baird, president of The Markle Foundation, and David R. Whitwam, chairman and chief executive officer of Whirlpool Corporation.

Cytec Industries Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Cytec Industries Inc. has elected to its board Dr. Barry C. Johnson, dean of engineering at Villanova University and former chief technology officer of Honeywell International Inc.

Digitas Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Digitas Inc. has elected to its board Robert R. Glatz, former global managing partner, corporate development, of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.

First Data Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... First Data Corporation has elected to its board Daniel P. Burnham, chairman of Raytheon Company, and Jack M. Greenberg, former chairman and chief executive officer of McDonald's Corporation.

Fortune Brands, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Fortune Brands, Inc. has elected to its board Pierre E. Leroy, president of Deere & Company's worldwide construction and forestry division and president of John Deere Power Systems.

Gap Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Gap Inc. has elected to its board Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer of eBay Inc., and Jim Schneider, chief financial officer and senior vice president of Dell Inc.

Goodrich Petroleum Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Goodrich Petroleum Corporation has elected to its board Geraldine A. Ferraro, three-term U.S. representative from New York, and Steven A. Webster, managing director of Global Energy Partners.

Haemonetics Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Haemonetics Corporation has elected to its board Lawrence C. Best, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Boston Scientific Corporation.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has elected to its board Neil Harrison, executive vice president of H.J. Heinz Company.

Hughes Supply, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Hughes Supply, Inc. has elected to its board Dale E. Jones, managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

IKON Office Solutions, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... IKON Office Solutions, Inc. has elected to its board William E. McCracken, formerly of International Business Machines Corporation.

ImClone Systems Incorporated.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... ImClone Systems Incorporated has elected to its board Joseph L. Fischer, former senior vice president of The Dial Corporation.

Jacuzzi Brands, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Jacuzzi Brands, Inc. has elected to its board Claudia E. Morf, former senior vice president nad chief financial officer of Rodale, Inc.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has elected to its board Sir Christopher Gent, former chief executive officer of Vodafone Group PLC.

Magnum Hunter Resources, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Magnum Hunter Resources, Inc. has elected to its board Jody Powers, former president of Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Maxtor Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Maxtor Corporation has elected to its board Greg Myers, senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Symantec Corporation.

Papa John's International, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Papa John's International, Inc. has elected to its board F. William Barnett, formerly of McKinsey & Company, and Philip Guarascio, former vice president of advertising and corporate marketing of General Motors Corporation.

Performance Food Group Company.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Performance Food Group Company has elected to its board Mary Doswell, president of Dominion Resources Services, Inc.

Phelps Dodge Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Phelps Dodge Corporation has elected to its board Robert D. Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Honeywell Aerospace.

Ryder System, Inc.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Ryder System, Inc. has elected to its board John M. Berra, executive vice president of Emerson Electric Co., and Abbie J. Smith, professor of accounting at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Standard Commercial Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Standard Commercial Corporation has elected to its board Gilbert L. Klemann II, general counsel at Avon Products, Inc.

Swift Energy Company.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Swift Energy Company has elected to its board Greg Matiuk, former executive vice president, administration and corporate services, of Chevron Texaco Corporation.

Zale Corporation.(Directors' register: recent board elections)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Zale Corporation has elected to its board Betsy Burton, chief executive officer of BB Capital, Inc. and former chief executive officer of Supercuts, Inc.

Conversations: Frederick Lipman: organizing audit committees.(founder of Association of Audit Committee Members)(Interview)
November 1, 2003... While the past few years have brought a major shakeup to how corporate boards function, the board's audit committee has had to practically re-invent itself. The audit committee now must rival (if not surpass) the full board in time and...