Despite persistent efforts to tackle underrepresentation of women on corporate boards, most boardrooms remain mostly male. The slow progress on gender diversity has frustrated policymakers, industry groups, and institutional investors, many of whom have publicly advocated for inclusion of women and minorities among the top ranks of management...

People disagree, for example, on such basic matters as the purpose of the corporation, the role of corporate boards of directors , the rights of ...

A number of governments (notably those in India, California, and parts of Europe) are pushing for greater female representation in the boardroom. And several studies suggest why: Having women on the board results better acquisition and investment decisions and in less aggressive risk-taking, yielding benefits for shareholders. What’s less clear is why these effects happen...

... tried-and-tested approach; creating independent advisory boards is another ... This is good advice, so long as the money saved is invested wisely ...

Why CEOs Surround M&A Announcements with Unrelated Good News .... His research interests include corporate governance , as well as the ...

The agendas of company boards are so packed that it’s hard to get to every question and concern during regular meetings. So between meetings, directors do what members of a team always do in this situation: They start having conversations on the side. Conducted properly, side discussions allow directors to work together efficiently—to trade opinions, share information, and exert influence...

The news about U.S. women’s presence in the C Suite – and especially the CEO job – has been pretty bleak. Nationwide fewer than 5% of CEOs of public companies are women. In the Fortune 500, that number actually fell by 25% between 2017 and 2018, dipping from 32 (6.4%) to 24 (4.8%), before rising back in 2019...

Nearly three-quarters of the directors responding to the National Association of Corporate Directors' latest corporate governance survey say that ...

Corporate boards of directors must tackle questions about sustainability in a new and urgent manner. If they don’t, they will hear from investors about their lack of action. In just the latest indication of the investor community’s increasing scrutiny on sustainability, Yahoo announced in 2018 that it would start publishing sustainability ratings for publicly traded companies...

Driving sustainable business practices in companies requires involvement from boards of directors . And there is some evidence that sustainability is ...

On January 1, California law said that all locally headquartered publicly traded companies must have at least one female director by 2020. While new to the U.S., mandates to increase gender diversity on corporate boards are common elsewhere. For example, Norway, Spain, France, and Iceland all have laws requiring that women comprise at least 40% of boards at publicly listed companies...

In the last two decades we have witnessed many large-scale corporate scandals ... monitoring bodies, and improved corporate governance practices...

A friend who serves on a number of consequential public company boards came to my office not long ago to ask my opinion on something that had become a contentious issue across his boards. The question: What is the proper role of a board with respect to company strategy?

For years women have sought greater representation on corporate boards. And most boards say they want more diversity. So why did women hold only 16.6% of Fortune 500 board seats in 2012? And why, for the past six years, has that percentage been relatively flat, increasing by just two points, according to data from the research firm Catalyst?

I sit on a board as a nonexecutive director and often feel uncomfortable about the amount of time available to raise questions and debate issues. In addition, I recently worked with a different board on how to add more value to the business. In this role I found myself counseling one of the directors to ask fewer questions and make fewer comments.

After years of asking corporate directors about the importance of diversity in ... in cooperation with Stanford's Rock Center for Corporate Governance , ...

Ever since Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776, observers have bemoaned boards of directors as being ineffective as both monitors and advisors of management. Because a CEO often effectively controls the director selection process, he will tend to choose directors who are unlikely to oppose him, and who are unlikely to provide the diverse perspectives necessary to maximize firm value. Institutional investors often are critical of CEOs’ influence over boards and have made efforts to help companies improve their governance. Nonetheless, boards remain highly imperfect.

“Go find your passion,’’ Henry directed his children when they reached their late teens and early twenties. “Find your interests outside our family business and pursue them.’’ As inspiring as those words may have been, Henry, the patriarch of a successful automotive parts business, wasn’t simply freeing his children to follow their dreams. He was requiring it.

Corporate directors and executives alike recognize that today’s pace of change continues to accelerate and that firms need to innovate to stay ahead. But are boards doing enough to support innovation, as they should? We conducted a survey of over 5,000 board members from around the world to find out...

When asked why companies don't talk more about the long term, CEOs ... risks and opportunities, corporate governance , corporate purpose, human ...

However, Germany relies on a specific corporate governance model which is not ... Corporate governance is just one part of a “package” of economic ...

... GE's long and steep decline, where was the company's board of directors ? ... GE's board had another major structural defect: It lacked a finance ...

Richard (not his real name) graduated from college on a Friday. Three days later he would start his first day on the job in his family business. The choice was not one that he gave much thought to.

The stigma of asking for or being assigned an executive coach is vanishing quickly. The growth of the industry tells us so. In the U.S. alone, $1 billion was spent on business, personal and relationship coaches last year, according to IbisWorld, up about 20% from five years earlier.