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Keeping a Foot on the GasIssue: 2020 Fourth QuarterThis year has brought more challenges than both the Business Roundtable (BRT) and Milton Friedman could have imagined — combined. It’s hard to conceive how much has changed and what will likely develop.In our editorial meetings we are working through “what’s next” discussions. True, these discussion...
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DIRECTORS TO WATCH: New Guidance Invites Investor Action on Diversity and InclusionIssue: 2020 Fourth QuarterEarlier this year, the Business Roundtable (BRT) and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issued new initiatives and public policy recommendations on workplace diversity and inclusion, from the ground floor all the way to the boardroom, spelling out potential penalties for publicly traded compan...
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Remote Meetings Could Improve Diversity and InclusionIssue: 2020 Fourth QuarterThe COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated massive changes in how companies do business, how their employees perform their jobs, and how board governance is carried out amid tremendous uncertainty and even chaos. As many boards experienced, when COVID-19 struck, meetings increased in number from four to...
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Nasdaq Moves to Require Board DiversityNasdaq has made history by asking the SEC to approve a proposal to require companies to demonstrate board diversity in order to be listed on the exchange.The proposal, announced Tuesday, would require most boards to add a woman and a director who self-identifies as LGBTQ+ or as a member of another u...
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Taking a Fresh Look at Third-Party RiskIssue: 2020 Fourth QuarterCOVID-19, and measures to limit its spread, have led to unexpected border closures, regional lockdowns, facility shutdowns and quarantine mandates for workers causing a shortage of raw materials, reduced production levels and unprecedented supply-chain disruption and delays.Spikes in demand for some...
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Chief Diversity Officer Success Depends on Board, Executive CommitmentIssue: 2020 Fourth QuarterSince the wave of protests in response to the killing of George Floyd erupted across the country and the world, the demand for Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) has dramatically increased beyond the 50% of Fortune 500 companies that already had one in place (63% of those adding the position in the last...
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Editor's Note: Keep Politics Out of the BoardroomIssue: 2020 Third QuarterWe were traditionally taught that there were two things never discussed in polite company — religion and politics. These were guaranteed to ruin any family Thanksgiving dinner. Why? Because they were naturally divisive — subjects about which every member of any gathering would have widely differing ...
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Letter from the Chairman: Service to Our NationIssue: 2020 Third QuarterA new model of capitalism based on the overarching themes of purpose, inclusion, and sustainability is upending the decades old doctrine of shareholder primacy. For over a half century, corporate America has placed priority on providing profitability for its shareholders, which has proven to be high...
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Sticking to Business in the BoardroomIssue: 2020 Third QuarterJon Hanson says his first board appointment was likely connected to his politics. Not necessarily because he was a Republican or a Democrat, but because of his relationships.Hanson, the founder and chairman of Hampshire Real Estate Companies, was appointed to the New Jersey Bell (now Verizon) board ...
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Anyone's Game: This year’s U.S. presidential election will likely be a photo finish. How should boards prepare?Issue: 2020 Third QuarterFormer Vice President Joseph R. Biden perhaps made the understatement of the 2020 presidential election in a school gym a few miles from his home in Greenville, Del.“Well, this is the most unusual campaign, I think, in modern history,” Biden said during a June speech on the coronavirus pandemic.It’s...
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Anyone's Game: If Trump Is ReelectedIssue: 2020 Third QuarterIncumbents historically have had the best odds of a win. Since 1900 only five incumbents have lost a second-term bid.Economic downturns were afflicting the nation in all five of these political upsets, including that of Gerald Ford, who was never elected but became president after Richard Nixon’s re...
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Anyone's Game: If Biden WinsIssue: 2020 Third QuarterWhile former Vice President Joe Biden has developed a progressive platform in his bid for president, during his decades in the Senate his political style was not vociferous or overly confrontational about progressive issues.Corporate directors who are interested in preparing for a Biden victory migh...
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Anyones Game: A Contested ElectionIssue: 2020 Third QuarterOf the potential results in November, a close election raises a significant wild card for boards of directors.There has been some concern expressed that President Donald Trump may not concede if he loses to his challenger Joe Biden in a close election if he can raise claims about the legitimacy of t...
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Crisis as an ESG CatalystIssue: 2020 Third QuarterCOVID-19 and Black Lives Matter have brought a harsh spotlight on environmental, social and governance issues (ESG), especially on the many “S” issues boards oversee. Your investors, employees and other stakeholders should know you understand and will react accordingly.While the pandemic is still wr...
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Two Views — Will the shift to virtual board recruitment be bad for boards? Possibly, but not for the reasons you might think.Issue: 2020 Third QuarterVirtual recruitment is not without challenges that, left unchecked, may result in poor board choices. A virtual process potentially eliminates some of the informal interactions that can be helpful in assessing cultural fit and values alignment. Board dinners, one-on-one in-person meetings with indiv...
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Two Views — Virtual interviews tend to be more structured and somewhat more formal, encouraging everyone to be more prepared.Issue: 2020 Third QuarterThe magnitude of the COVID-19 health crisis and collapse in economic activity is unlike anything we have seen. Within most organizations, traditional in-person work patterns have been disrupted, while others have seen widespread layoffs or furloughs. Anxiety about job loss, economic uncertainty, per...
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How Boards Can Respond to Calls for Racial EquityIssue: 2020 Third QuarterWith widespread protests over persistent racism, many boards of directors are looking for their companies to do more to support racial equity. Here are considerations for different approaches that boards and management teams might pursue.Deciding among ESG goalsRacial justice is now a top-of-mind co...
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Remote Meetings Could Improve Diversity and InclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated massive changes in how companies do business, how their employees perform their jobs, and how board governance is carried out amid tremendous uncertainty and even chaos. As many boards experienced, when COVID-19 struck, meetings increased in number from four to...
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The Corporate Purpose Debate: Shareholder Value and Corporate Responsibility in an Era of COVID-19 and Social Unrest“U.S. public corporations are not playthings. They create jobs, produce goods and services that consumers depend on, affect the environment we live in, and build wealth that help Americans lead more secure lives. They are socially chartered institutions of enormous importance and value. Those who go...
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Maintaining the ‘Softer Side of Governance’ in a Socially Distant WorldIssue: 2020 Third QuarterAs the COVID-19 pandemic began to surge in March and forced a global shift to remote work, there was a widespread assumption that the changes to corporate life would be temporary. It now seems more reasonable to assume our work lives have changed forever and working remotely will remain a comm...