MORE NEWS & ARTICLES

March 16, 2023

A new report finds CEO and CFO base salaries increasing but bonuses on the decl

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What Directors are Thinking

March 9, 2023

With more than half of companies failing to plan for CEO succession, the topic

March 9, 2023

To contribute effectively during economic uncertainty, directors need candor, c

March 7, 2023

Boards of Delaware corporations may want to move toward adopting officer exculp

March 6, 2023

Boards continue to be challenged by the war in Ukraine, China relations and ESG

March 3, 2023

ESG statements in press releases, the company website and other marketing can b

March 2, 2023

There’s a better way to prevent C-Suite self-dealing than the SEC’s cybersecuri

Book it: Best bets 'for board reading

Of ‘thermostats’ and ‘thermometers’ 

From The Open Organization by Jim Whitehurst. Copyright ©2015 by Red Hat Inc. Published by Harvard Business Review Press (https://hbr.org).

Your D&O coverage: Do you have what you need ' and expect?

 

Any person who serves as a director or officer knows that a D&O policy should be purchased to protect the individual assets of those who serve the company as board members or executive officers. However, other than asking whether a D&O policy exists, most directors and officers do not know how D&O insurance works, who has access to that coverage, and whether the policy really will serve as the last line of defense against their homes, personal assets, and life savings. 


Lynda A. Bennett  is a partner with Lowenstein Sandler, based in the law firm’s New York and Roseland, N.J., offices (www.lowenstein.com). She has more than 20 years of commercial litigation experience. Her practice includes D&O, environmental, mass tort, product liability and other liability cases, and she counsels clients on contractual insurance requirements, innovative risk management tools, assessment of insurance programs, and other legal matters.

The author can be contacted at lbennett@lowenstein.com.

How CEOs succeed: 'Think big, start small, move fast'

 

Bain released research in 2012 on public companies generating above $500 million in revenues in 12 developed and emerging economies. There was no good news. Eighty percent of the 2,000 companies they assessed believed they were doing well. Yet, according to stakeholders, only about 10% were actually doing as well as they thought. And only 11% were able to sustain profitable growth.


Sandy Ogg is currently Operating Partner, Private Equity Group, at Blackstone Group LP in New York (www.blackstone.com). In this role he helps select management and board members for Blackstone’s portfolio companies. He has founded CEOWorks to advise CEOs and boards on deriving and delivering value faster (www.ceo.works). Previously, he served as chief human resources officer for Unilever PLC in London and prior to that was SVP of Leadership, Learning and Performance at Motorola Inc.

The author can be contacted at sogg@blackstone.com. This article originated from a presentation he mad eat the 2014 Wharton Leadership Conference, “Preparing for a Complex and Uncertain World”
(http://leadershipconference.wharton.upenn.edu). 

Better boards for a better world

 


Alice Korngold is president and CEO of Korngold Consulting (www.korngoldconsulting.com). She provides board advisory services and facilitates leadership retreats for executives from multinational corporations, professional services firms, and global, national, and regional nonprofits. She has trained and placed several hundred business executives and professionals on NGO/nonprofit boards. She is the author of A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems . . . Where Governments Cannot (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). 

The author can be contacted at alice@korngoldconsulting.com.

Resident expertise: 'Digital directors 'at the board table

 

A commercial company’s long-term viability could be threatened if there isn’t any digital expertise resident at the board table.


The author can be contacted at norbert@gottenberg.net.

Riding the technology S-curve

I’m writing this article in a plane over the Atlantic, returning from the 2015 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. More than 90,000 people attended this four-day technology feeding frenzy — representing not just mobile device manufacturers and phone networks, but app makers, accessory manufacturers, computer companies, consulting firms, cloud vendors, social media platforms, connected infrastructure outfits, online security vendors, and even various country and province governments.


Don Peppers is founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group, a unit of TeleTech Holdings Inc. He is a member of the advisory board or board of directors of five digital companies today, including one publicly traded firm, Cicero Inc. He can be contacted at dpeppers@1to1.com.

Technology: It's not 'just about cyber

 

Cyber-attacks on businesses and governments are constantly in the headlines. Corporate boards recognize the severity of this threat and are beginning to ask questions surrounding their company’s cyber capabilities. This is necessary, and a good start, but not sufficient. 


Jane Chwick is a retired partner of Goldman Sachs. She spent over 30 years with the investment firm in technology, most recently as the co-chief operating officer of the 8,000-person technology division. She is on the boards of Voya Financial and MarketAxess and is the co-founder of Trewtec Inc., a technology advisory firm designed to help directors and CEOs evaluate technology in their companies (www.trewtec.com).

The author can be contacted at jane.chwick@trewtec.com.

Transition plans 'for ineffective directors

 

Serving on a board of directors is an honor, but not all directorships are successful. A board member can easily leave a corporate board if he or she decides that they no longer like the direction the company is heading, dislike the workload, or feels that their opinions are not being taken seriously. If a board member comes to this decision, they can simply write a resignation letter and be done. This may not be the most professional way to handle the situation, but it usually is that simple. 


James Zuehlke, principal of Cardinal Board Services, focuses on maximizing the effectiveness of clients’ boards.

The author can be contacted at at jimz@cardinalboardservices.com.

TSR can be a flawed 'incentive measure

The most effective executive compensation programs today strike the balance across key stakeholders — boards of directors, management teams, and shareholders.


Greg Arnold (left) is a principal and Barry Sullivan is a managing director of executive compensation consulting firm Semler Brossy (www.semlerbrossy.com).

The authors can be contacted at garnold@semlerbrossy.com and bsullivan@semlerbrossy.com. Special thanks to Joseph Daou for analytical support.

The BEPS impact: Increased tax scrutiny

 

The obligation to report country-by-country tax information to all jurisdictions is on the immediate horizon. The impact on multinationals will be profound, with significant implications for the tax compliance and reporting functions, transfer pricing policies and oversight, tax audits and controversies, and reputational risk. 


Dennis T. Whalen is partner in charge and executive director of KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute. Manal S. Corwin is head of KPMG’s International Tax practice.

The authors can be contacted at auditcommittee@kpmg.com.