Nordic asset management giant Nordea Bank Abp and several top Danish pension funds have hit Microsoft MSFT -3.2% with a shareholder proposal urging that the company disclose its public country-by-country tax information in line with the Global Reporting Initiative’s tax transparency standard...
The years leading up to Clif Bar’s agreement last week to sell itself for $2.9 billion were full of challenges: management turmoil, layoffs and defections, a failed $20 million ad campaign and a succession of CEOs. Now ex-employees speak out on the surprising sale...
Recent pushback on ESG is a sign that it is evolving, with stakeholders taking steps to make ESG efforts more consistently tangible, meaningful and measurable. Calling out misinformed approaches helps make the case for proper design and action. Many business leaders are using the critique of ESG programs to analyze their current approach and rethink their strategies to create more value and impact...
While most of the attention in Washington D.C. this week will be focused on the Joint Congressional Committee’s continued hearings into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, I will be intently watching the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing on how the managers of stock index funds should vote their proxies...
Business results and economic growth are increasingly reliant upon the digital business systems that power America’s companies making cybersecurity a critical issue in America’s long-term success...
Who is on your personal board of directors? For most of us, this question would make us pause. We all have people who are mentors and influencers in our lives, but most of us have not given thought to the group of people who really are our personal advisors...
Close on the heels of the climate disclosures for companies, the SEC has issued a much-needed proposal on standardizing ESG disclosures for ESG funds...
Now—more than ever—corporations must show they care about workers' opinions on key issues to attract and retain talent. Amazon’s recent announcement that it is going to pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses for employees who travel to have an abortion and other medical procedures is just a recent example of how corporations are aligning themselves with social issues to attract and retain talent...
The recent Shell Oil annual shareholder meeting was disrupted by activist shareholders pressuring the company to pivot more quickly and aggressively toward renewable energy...
There has never been a neat, clean break between business and geopolitics. As far back as the eighteenth century, the American colonies boycotted British goods, culminating in the Boston Tea Party and paved the way for the establishment of the U.S. However, in recent years, corporations have seen their fates ever more tied to the surrounding political mood...
Once we understand how to measure the real economic impact of sustainability, we must take a step forward and think in terms of a new management model: a model in which sustainability projects are not seen as altruistic or necessary efforts but as competitive advantages...
Here’s how our board started. We founded Dialpad in 2011. There were no investors, so the board was my co-founders and me. When we raised our Series A, Wesley Chan, who was then a general partner at Google Ventures, joined us on the board. In 2012, we raised our Series B, and Marc Andreessen joined. You can probably see where this is going...
In April, a Los Angeles judge ruled that California's landmark law mandating that corporations diversify their boards with members from certain racial, ethnic or LGBT groups is unconstitutional...
For many years, businesses considered environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives as nice-to-haves. But, today, any company looking to attract new customers, partners and employees must be committed to the environment and social good...
No longer considered "nice to have," environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives are fast-becoming essential to long-term business strategy and growth. These initiatives not only strive to create corporate transparency while aligning businesses with what's best for the planet and people, but they also drive brand affinity and consumer trust...
Ten years ago, brands could get by without making a statement. But disease, social injustice, economic collapse and war are weighing heavily on your shoppers’ minds right now. While the world is never going to be a perfect place, it’s clear that shoppers expect businesses to do more than just provide products and services...
Kohl’s on Friday mailed a letter to shareholders, written by incoming Kohl’s board chair Peter Boneparth urging the shareholders to vote for all 13 of Kohl’s current director nominees, ahead of Kohl’s May 11, shareholders meeting...
In the last several weeks, most of the attention in the corporate governance world has been focused on the drama playing out between Elon Musk and Twitter’s board of directors—especially the Twitter board’s decision to install a “poison pill” to prevent Musk from attempting a hostile takeover...
Board directors know that many recent workplace and workflow changes are here to stay; staff need to know we're looking out for their best interests...
A Twitter shareholder Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk alleging that Musk manipulated Twitter’s share price by delaying an announcement that he had acquired over 5% ownership in the company by March 14, breaking SEC rules in the process...
Every private company has its own set of ownership issues, competitive dynamics and resource constraints to optimize. As you would expect, private companies vary widely on what they want their boards to accomplish. Setting these priorities starts with understanding the basics of governance...
Mathematician Andrew Wiles compared the process of doing mathematics to navigating a dark mansion, stating: “One stumbles around bumping into the furniture but gradually you learn where each piece of furniture is. Finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch, you turn it on, and suddenly it’s all illuminated. You can see exactly where you were.”...
The board’s governance committee can gain valuable insight on the conflicts disclosure and review process from the current highly public ethics controversy involving Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia, a well known conservative political activist...
The debate over the purpose of corporations is over—or at least it appears that way. Like in a plot twist, shareholders are now widely perceived as the best advocates of stakeholders’ interests...