Welcome to the Journal Library.
If you subscribe to Governance, from this page you can access all the articles since 2004. If you do not subscribe you can search the Library for relevant articles and will be given an option to subscribe if you wish to read further.
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David Archer and Alex Cameron look at the lessons boards have learned over the past year.
Robert King considers a major global survey which finds that businesses are struggling to turn sustainability ambitions into action.
‘This third view involves the development of ethical concerns and attitudes related to the situation, given the legality and the legitimacy of a particular action, but with the understanding that what is considered legal and legitimate can differ in the home and the host country. Let us call this “moral pragmatism.’
‘We have to have both the conviction to stick to our purpose and the antennae and good sense of judgement to know when to adapt it to ensure that we survive, to sustain success or to fulfil our organisation’s and our own potential. To conclude, it’s hard to have a board that is fit for purpose if you don’t know what the purpose is.’
‘Co-operatives such as Outlandish show that one can achieve the holy grail of marrying sound structures and processes with good behaviours and values, and thereby achieve good commercial, ethical outcomes for clients.’
‘However, closer study of the firms listed on the BVL suggests that as firms internationalise either for finance or to access markets, good governance is becoming integrated into the business model so that regional firms operating in Peru or large so-called trans-latinas have significantly better compliance.’
‘We think this bodes very well, not just for the development of good fund governance principles more widely throughout organisations but also for the development of a strong pipeline of future fund board directors for whom transparency, value and governance are firmly entrenched in their day-to-day business practices.’
‘Ultimately, SRD II aims to prevent the mistakes made in the past. Governance and oversight are only possible if the information and data being used to make the judgements is full and accurate and is available at the same level of detail to all players equally. Knowledge therefore is key to ensuring accountability.’
‘Directors must consider which business metrics are most appropriate for identifying high performers and consider whether or not the ability to adhere to a traditional working pattern is the most important criteria at a time when productivity and the ability to innovate and generate results are becoming increasingly important.’
‘Yet, when we look beyond these snappy headlines, we find not only has the concept of shareholder activism been hi-jacked by a small cadre of extremely wealthy private equity investors with large shareholdings to leverage but, more worryingly, the idea of increased board accountability is often just a polite synonym to describe rampant often wild short-termism in investment decision making.’
‘In order to tip the balance towards better behaviour on the part of controlling shareholders at the group level, there exist a variety of legal and regulatory regimes that attempt to protect external shareholders from potential conflicts with the motivations driving the owners of the wider group as a whole.’
‘Dependency on short-term actions: the magnitude and nature of the future impacts will be determined by actions taken today, which thus need to follow a credible and forward-looking policy path. This includes actions by governments, central banks and supervisors, financial market participants, firms and households.’
‘For 30 years boards have viewed technology as an operational matter, best delegated. Now, in the digital age, society is different; business is different; risks are different. Does your board have the right conversations – and the right skills?’
‘So, if we are really honest about it, the regulatory regime has failed, and the time has come to dismantle it and start again. The new start should concentrate on training in behaviours and values, and encouragement by shareholders and employees for companies to design the governance which works for them.’
‘… the SID also needs to be able to act as a lightning rod – picking up signs of emerging conflict or disquiet amongst fellow board members and giving voice to it at an appropriate time (particularly when the Chair is not responding to these tensions) so that issues don’t fester.’
‘The purpose of a good Chair isn’t to lead thinking for the board, but rather to be an independent facilitator. Someone capable of encouraging people to think around topics and seek knowledge and data to make good decisions, instead of relying on existing beliefs.’
‘It is easy to see how for many boards having short tenure Chairs may create unintended consequences. Understanding these potential consequences could start influencing the appointment process and potentially lead a nomination committee to disqualify otherwise highly qualified candidates due to restraints on tenure length.’
‘Climate change poses challenges for boards on many levels. It is a risk that is unique for businesses in its scope and scale, yet due to the complex and diverse nature of the issue, it remains poorly understood by many.’
‘Instead, the findings show that firm specific factors account for most of the differences. Firms with more cash, higher market-to-book ratio, and more intangible assets demonstrated the greatest cost impact from the conflict of interests.’
‘There must be a challenge to the current status quo. Boardrooms have become over-reliant on technical teams for advice and, as a result, restricted in how they can manage cyber risk from a strategic level. If controls are maintained only at operational level with no foundational strategy to maintain them then the overall cyber resilience is likely to be flawed.’
