Mobile Edition
Print
Get the Mag
Weekly UpdatesAnnual Meetings
Face the Music (and the Shareholders)--Annual shareholder meetings may not be so "Soviet" in their routine this season. By DIRECTORS & BOARDS Chairman Robert Rock. Second Quarter 2008
Audit Committees
Enhancing Audit Quality--The CAQ is on the case. By Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality. Annual Report 2008
On Being a Successful Audit Committee Chair--Five best practices being implemented today by audit committee leadership. By Frederick Lipman of Blank Rome. Fourth Quarter 2008
Board Composition
Be Strategic about Board Composition--It is naive to assume that all directors are equally capable in every respect. By Curtis Crawford, CEO of XCEO Inc. First Quarter 2008
Diversify the Board ... by Personality Type--A key to a high-functioning board is to intentionally bring together people with differing personality styles. By Peter Spanberger of PGS Partners LLC and Susan Jackson of Vela LLC. Second Quarter 2008
No Time for Stockdale--Women directors: optics vs. vive la difference. By columnist Hoffer Kaback. Third Quarter 2008
Getting from a Good to a Great Board--You can do it through gender diversity. The qualified woman candidate for your board is out there--if you look for her in the right places and with the right process. By Janice Reals Ellig of Chadick Ellig and Ilene Lang of Catalyst. Fourth Quarter 2008
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Board Dynamics
Big Fish, Little Pond--How large-company execs best fit into smaller businesses ... and their boardrooms. By David Malizia of Westshore Capital Partners. First Quarter 2008
A Director's Dilemma--It is hard to know when simply raising questions, and eyebrows, has become insufficient. By William G. Bowen of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Second Quarter 2008
Requisite Mindsets for Good Governing--Answering the question of why some boards add value while others fritter away their time, talent, and energy. By Michael Kipp of GovernBest. Third Quarter 2008
The Heart of the Matter--Good governance depends on good relationships between management and board. Sounds simple and straightforward? It's not. By Diana McLain Smith of Monitor Group. Fourth Quarter 2008
Board Performance
Boards Think They're Doing a Good Job ... but CEOs Disagree--What can directors do to bridge that disconnect? By Keith Meyer and Robert Rollo of Heidrick & Struggles. Second Quarter 2008
Does BBR render CGR and CGI DOA?--Or, no matter what the evidence, is it all CYA? Corporate governance indices come under critique. By columnist Hoffer Kaback. Second Quarter 2008
Board Practices
Roundtable: Director Term Limits Come Up for Review--Gathered under the auspices of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, experts tackle some thorny topics concerning board tenure: How long before directors get stale or too complacent? Are term limits a necessity or a hindrance to board performance? How useful (or useless) are director evaluations? And, what should be done about 'duds' on the board? Second Quarter 2008
Essential Underpinnings--A remembrance: Dayton Hudson's corporate governance--maybe not the 'ideal' model, but certainly principles worthy of emulation. By Kenneth Macke (In Memoriam). Third Quarter 2008
Our Man in Governance--An appreciation: Lead columnist Hoffer Kaback at the decade mark in filing provocative dispatches on board practices ... and malpractices. Annual Report 2008
A Classic Model of Onboarding--Right from the start, reap the full value of the expertise and leadership that made the new director such an attractive candidate in the first place. By John Gardner and Lee Hanson of Heidrick & Struggles. Third Quarter 2008
CEO Development and Evaluation
Two Outrageous Tales of Outsourcing--Hiring outsiders to evaluate executives sets a new high standard for buck-passing. By columnist Gary Sutton. First Quarter 2008
Compensation Committee
The Compensation Committee Recharged--What is being asked of the committee this year challenges the traditional distinction between oversight and management. By Martin Nussbaum of Dechert LLP. First Quarter 2008
Corporate Social Responsibility
SRI: No Longer a Niche Investment Strategy--Being included in socially responsible investment indexes has its rewards. By Jerry Moskowitz of FTSE Americas. First Quarter 2008
The Next Best Place to Invest? Child Care--The ROI is huge. By Allan Miller of the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation. Second Quarter 2008
Crisis Management
Kidnap and Ransom: How Remote the Risk?--As violence increases throughout the world, businesses of all types and sizes face greater risks to their executives. Here is what you need to know about K&R insurance in today's dangerous environment. By JoAnn Ralph of Rothstein Kass. First Quarter 2008
The Protocol of a Turnaround Manager--This peek into a turnaround pro's playbook reveals the initiatives directors themselves can take to preempt the call for help. By Deborah Hicks Midanek of Solon Group Inc. Second Quarter 2008
Who Could've Known?--Directors cannot predict the strange things that happen to every business. By columnist Gary Sutton. Second Quarter 2008
D&O Insurance
Volatile Times Call for the Best D&O Coverage--Don't be complacent about your protection. By Evan Rosenberg of Chubb Group. Second Quarter 2008
D&O Insurance: A Pressure Check--As companies caught 'financial flu,' liability risk rose. A few educated guesses about what's ahead. By Evan Rosenberg of Chubb Group. Annual Report 2008
For Your More Robust Personal Protection--Yes, you need a personal indemnification agreement ... and here is what should be in it and what it should cover. By Priya Cherian Huskins of Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. Fourth Quarter 2008
The Long Arm of the Credit Crisis--This is no time to be scrimping on D&O insurance protection. By Lisa Jones of Chubb Group. Fourth Quarter 2008
Director Compensation
Alignment Strikes Out--This screwball notion never stood a chance--at least not with Yankees manager Joe Torre. By columnist Hoffer Kaback. First Quarter 2008
What Should We Pay Board Members For?--Oversight responsibility? Performance of the company? Or both? By Jack Dolmat-Connell and Gerry Miller of DolmatConnell & Partners. Fourth Quarter 2008
Director Profiles
Directors to Watch--A third annual compilation of future leaders. Edited by Scott Chase. Third Quarter 2008
Director Recruitment
Is a Health Care Executive on Board?--The health care industry breeds a pool of board candidates experienced in dealing with difficult challenges. By Lynn Shapiro Snyder of Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health care Industry Foundation and Sandra Van Trease of BJC Health-Care. First Quarter 2008
Who's on Board 2007-The Directors Roster annual review. Plus, profiles of four of these new directors: Natalye Paquin, Dick Vermeil, Rajat Gupta, and Irma Mann. By Directors Roster Editor Kelly McCarthy. Annual Report 2008
The Next Generation of Directors--They're hiding in plain sight. How to find and develop them. By Thames Fulton and Bonnie Gwin of Heidrick & Struggles. Annual Report 2008
Executive Compensation
Setting Executive Pay in the 'Hard Spot'--Financial performance is strong but the stock price has not yet responded. What's a compensation committee to do? By Ira Kay and Steven Van Putten of Watson Wyatt Worldwide. First Quarter 2008
Equity Ownership Mandates: Abolish Them--You hire the executive to be an executive. You do not contract them to be an "owner." By corporate director Betsy Atkins. Third Quarter 2008
'Say on Pay': A Populist, but Misguided, Notion--There's a better way for shareholders to get their message across. By Directors & Boards Chairman Robert Rock. Third Quarter 2008
'Say on Pay' Is No 'Slippery Slope'--Ten reasons why an advisory vote makes sense. By Sodali Ltd. Chairman John Wilcox. Annual Report 2008
On the Front Lines of Exec Pay--Revisiting the top comp stories of 2007 suggests some next-stage steps for crafting pay programs. By Jack Dolmat-Connell of DolmatConnell & Partners Inc. Annual Report 2008
'Say on Pay': What the Market Thinks--We did the 'reaction' calculations to the passing of legislation and related shareholder-sponsored proposals. By Ralph Walkling of Drexel University's Center for Corporate Governance. Fourth Quarter 2008
Executive Recruitment
The Superdelegate to the Shareholders--To do it right, 'search' must be in the board's DNA. By Peter Felix of the Association of Executive Search Consultants. Third Quarter 2008
Finance Committee
Managing the Black Ink and Red Flags of FX--Quantifying foreign exchange risk is harder than you think. By Wolfgang Koester of Rim-Tec Inc. First Quarter 2008
Does Your CFO Make the Grade?--The author's CFO Report Card. By Chris Lafond, EVP and CFO of Gartner. Third Quarter 2008
Global Business
Worried About your Global Partners?--Investigative due diligence is unsurpassed as a low-cost, high-value tool in learning about your company's overseas connections. By Scott Moritz and Maximilian Block of Daylight Forensic &Advisory LLC. First Quarter 2008
Dangers Outside the U.S. Borders--Here are questions for your chief risk officer about being protected on an international scale. By fames Proferes of Chubb Group. First Quarter 2008
Top 10 Ways to Avoid Trouble in China--By Ted Revis of The Norelli Group. First Quarter 2008
The Many (Dis)Guises of Corruption--Battling bribery in your global business practices? Incorporate technology to bolster your risk management. By Melissa Lea of SAP. Second Quarter 2008
FEED