Publisher’s Note: Yes, you’ll find many broken links in the material referenced below. After 5, 10 and 15 years, the internet moves on. Many of the organization’s linked have since gone under. We’re just glad to still be here, offering our readers a sense of the history we have shared. More about the WABAC machine. Five […]
Archive | October, 2013
Stanford Academics Focus on Wrong Problems at ISS
James McRitchie, 10/30/2013 ,
In a recent Stanford “Closer Look” publication (How ISS Dictates Equity Plan Design), Ian D. Gow (Harvard but graduated from Stanford), David F. Larcker, Allan l. Mccall, and Brian Tayan argue ISS dictates pay equity plans. ‘Nonsense,’ was my first reaction. ISS policies generally reflect the will of its customers. The authors have a point […]
GMI Enhances AGR Product
James McRitchie, 10/29/2013 ,
GMI has enhanced their Accounting & Governance Risk (AGR®) ratings product. As I have indicated elsewhere, products like this one and GMI’s Forensic Alpha Model (FAM™)do a great deal in advancing corporate governance. See my September 26, 2013 post and FAMulous Basis for Achieving Alpha. (more…)
Political Disclosure and Corporate America
James McRitchie, 10/28/2013 ,
Guest Post from Stephen M. Davis, Ph.D. is associate director of the Harvard Law School Programs on Corporate Governance and Institutional Investors, and a senior fellow at the Program on Corporate Governance. He is also a nonresident senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution. From 2007-2012 he was executive director of the Yale School of Management’s Millstein […]
Video Friday: Brian Cheffins on Comparative Corporate Governance
James McRitchie, 10/25/2013 ,
In 2012 Cambridge University launched a Masters degree in Corporate Law (the MCL), which offers students the opportunity to engage in detailed study of the legal and regulatory framework within which companies are governed and financed. The MCL, a full-time nine-month program, is taught by the Cambridge Law Faculty’s team of corporate lawyers, widely recognized as […]
John Chevedden: "Economy Class" Investor Activist
James McRitchie, 10/24/2013 ,
India Proxy Season 2013 Analysis From InGovern
James McRitchie, 10/23/2013 ,
A recent report by InGovern Research Services analyzes patterns in the resolutions proposed by Indian listed companies in the just concluded 2013 proxy voting season. The data has been collated and analyzed from a coverage universe of 585 companies forming part of the S&P 500 and BSE 500 indices, which represent over 95% of the market […]
Dissident Directors and Proxy Access: Best Defense May Be the Same
James McRitchie, 10/22/2013 ,
I have a ‘no-action’ request by Apple on my desk. They are fighting my attempt to include consideration of a proxy access proposal at their next annual meeting. Like most no-action requests to the SEC, this one is full of dry uninspired attempts to raise procedural minutiae as a basis for exclusion. Also sitting on my […]
ACGA: Asian Business Dialogue on Corporate Governance 2013
James McRitchie, 10/21/2013 ,
This is the final program for the Asian Corporate Governance Association‘s 13th Annual Conference taking place in Seoul, Korea on November 5-6, 2013. You can still reserve your place. Sign up for Corporate Sustainability and Responsibile Investment in North Asia. Payment can be made by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, American Express). Please note companies registering two or […]
Video Friday: Who's Winning the War on Corporate Governance (and should you care)?
James McRitchie, 10/18/2013 ,
Lecture given by Chad L. Norton, Vice President, Fund Business Management Group of Capital Research and Management Company at Banta Center for Business, Ethics and Society, University of Redlands. Mr. Norton previously served as corporate secretary of The New Economy Fund and SMALLCAP World Fund, Inc., two of Capital’s retail mutual funds, as well as American Funds Insurance Series, […]
Review – Competition, Diversity and Economic Performance: Processes, Complexities and Ecological Similarities
James McRitchie, 10/17/2013 ,
Mainstream microeconomics has emphasized the search for perfectly competitive markets within a framework of equilibria in a quest to maximize economic efficiency. Tisdell argues that intense competition can reduce economic performance. He concentrates on market adjustments and the evolution of economic systems where the role of diversity, product niches, cooperation between firms and comparisons with […]
Startup Governance: Getting the Most from Your Board
James McRitchie, 10/16/2013 ,
First time entrepreneurs often need to learn to better manage their boards. They rarely understand what boards expect of them or what they should expect from their board. The appropriate role of a board changes as a company matures. Entrepreneurs face inherent conflict of interests between their roles as shareholders, managers and their role as […]
Review: Strategy, Innovation and the Theory of the Firm
James McRitchie, 10/15/2013 ,
David J. Teece’s Strategy, Innovation and the Theory of the Firm uses a couple of dozen papers to explore his own scholarship and that of his co-authors on strategy research and innovation as the engine of growth. He develops the “Dynamic Capabilities Framework” – how the various streams of research on management and innovation converge, the framework […]
Investors Call on Food Companies to Stay out of Washington State GMO Battle
James McRitchie, 10/14/2013 ,
Companies that gave $46 million to stop California GMO labeling risk negative brand reputation if they fund effort to stop I-522 initiative for transparent labeling of food. Companies that donated funds to oppose ballot initiatives to require the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are facing new pressure from shareholders to stay out of future […]
Video Friday: Why Taxes Have to Be Raised on the Rich
James McRitchie, 10/11/2013 ,
Robert Reich makes the case for higher taxes on the wealthy in two minutes and 30 seconds. Notice the overlap between “class warfare” and “common sense.” Also recommended, Inequality for All. download the discussion guide and find additional resources that accompany the film as well as the list of organizations and partners that made this […]
Dell (DELL): How I Voted – Proxy Score 71
James McRitchie, 10/10/2013 ,
$DELL is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 10/17/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 10/9/2013. I voted with management 71% of the time. View Proxy Statement. I took a little less time in analyzing the proxy since the company is being sold to […]
Review: The History of Modern US Corporate Governance
James McRitchie, 10/09/2013 ,
This unique “must have” two volume set traces the development of corporate governance thought around the core issue of the separation of ownership and control while also touching on the board of directors, executive pay, shareholder activism and the regulatory structures that shape corporate governance in the U.S. I include the index to both volumes at […]
Review: Law as Engineering
James McRitchie, 10/08/2013 ,
Law As Engineering: Thinking About What Lawyers Do takes a creative approach to law; instead of seeing law as closely associated with philosophy or economics, David Howarth points to legal design. Most attorneys aren’t involved in litigation. Like engineers, they are often hired to provide services not in the abstract but for particular purposes, mostly to […]
Two+ Calls for Papers – Towards Sustainable Re-embedding & Civil Society
James McRitchie, 10/07/2013 ,
The next European Academy of Management conference will take place in Valencia (Spain) between the 4th and the 7th of June 2014. The conference will be held at the Valencia Conference Centre and the Faculty of Economics of University of Valencia. The theme of the conference, Waves and Winds of Strategic Leadership for Sustainable Competitiveness, […]
Video Friday: Family-Controlled Businesses – Dynasty Planning and Leadership Transition Challenges
James McRitchie, 10/04/2013 ,
Samuel Lum, CFA discusses opportunities and pitfalls in transitioning family-controlled businesses with Joseph P. H. Fan. Although there is a smaller proportion of family controlled businesses in the US, where most readers of CorpGov.net reside, the issues discussed are widespread enough to warrant attention. From the CFA Institute’s blog, Enterprising Investor: (more…)
CSR Reviewed
James McRitchie, 10/03/2013 ,
The September issue of Corporate Governance: An International Review is devoted to papers on corporate governance systems and corporate social responsibility. The opening editorial (accessible without subscription) begins with a civics lesson: One cannot understand the CSR strategy and politics of organizations without understanding the nature of the institutional environments in which they choose – or […]
ICGN 2013: Raw Notes From New York
James McRitchie, 10/02/2013 ,
These are some fairly raw notes from the June 2013 ICGN Annual Conference in New York City. I was unable to attend the second day but the first day was great. Don’t miss the 2014 ICGN Annual in Amsterdam, 16-18 June. Opening Remarks by Jon Feigelson, Senior Managing Director, General Counsel and Head of Corporate Governance, TIAA-CREF and Roger […]
Procter and Gamble (PG): How I Voted – Proxy Score 60
James McRitchie, 10/01/2013 ,
Procter and Gamble $PG is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 10/8/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 10/1/2013. I voted with management 60% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in […]