27 August, 2019

Institutional investors ‘should confront failing chairs’ to fight private equity deals

Institutional shareholders have been called upon to replace failing chairs as part of an effort to counter companies being sold “too cheaply” to private equity investors. According to David Cum...

15 August, 2019

Why insecure leaders trust algorithms over advisers

Boards are not just made to hold management to account; they’re also there to provide advice. Except, it seems, some leaders might prefer the counsel of machines rather than real people. That’s...

7 August, 2019

Setting the pace: how to ensure your board is fit for the future

To excel at any pursuit, you need to follow a fitness programme. This is no different whether you are an elite athlete or high-level business executive. But crucially, at a time of rapid advances in t...

17 June, 2019

Shaping the boards of the future

There have been enormous changes in the way organisations and individuals work over the past 20 to 30 years, but the structure of boards has not changed at anything like the pace of the organisations ...

11 June, 2019

NGO governance: finding solutions to future challenges

Recent scandals have placed national and international NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and NGO governance in the uncomfortable glare of press scrutiny. Whether it is over misuse of funds, inappr...

29 April, 2019

How many chairships is too many?

Reading through the policy guide of proxy advisory firm Gla...

25 April, 2019

Audit committees: increased scrutiny is the only certainty

There is a very good chance that life is about to get much tougher for audit committee members. While in the past those serving on the board committees that supervise auditors may have undertaken thei...

5 April, 2019

Boardroom lessons from Brexit

'The common good is of paramount importance' Marie-Louise Clayton Leadership? Headless chickens? Or, herding cats? Brexit has produced “Bercowesque”, my newly coined adjectiv...

29 March, 2019

Nissan’s governance report is a warning for all boards

Just 20 minutes. That’s the time Carlos Ghosn allegedly allowed for each board meeting when he was heading Nissan. Whatever the facts surrounding Ghosn’s guilt or innocence of the charges he no...

14 March, 2019

How should a board manage a maverick CEO?

How do you solve a problem like Elon Musk? The impulsive chief executive of Tesla seems rarely out of the news. But it’...