Governance Fundamentals: Understanding Your Company’s Mechanics and Benchmarking. That was the title of the final spring 2019 SVDX/Rock Center program at Stanford Law on April 18. My cryptic notes below. (more…)
Tag Archives | SVDX
Judicial Independence: Conflicts
Judicial Independence: Conflicts of Interest was the primary focus of last week’s first Rock Center / SVDX program of the academic year. It was titled Condos on Lanai, Private Planes, and Electric Cars: Judicial Views of Purported Conflicts Among Silicon Valley Director. (more…)
Cultural Risks: SVDX & Rock Center
Cultural Risks: As Advertised Cultural risks were the topic of a recent Rock Center / SVDX event. The spotlight often shines on cultural risks only after an organizational crisis or incident. But forward-looking leaders are shifting to a proactive approach to cultural risk management. Macro business issues—cost and regulatory pressures, digital disruption, cyber threats, talent shortages, […]
AI: Boards Embracing Technology
Robotics and AI: How will Boards Embrace Tomorrow’s Technologies? As advertized: AI and Robotics are coming. There is no question that disruptive technologies are going to dominate not only what is introduced into the marketplace but also how our businesses are operated internally. Two evolving, and already disruptive forces, are robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). […]
Lead Director – Non-Executive Chair: Evolving
Today’s lead director and non-executive chair face a seemingly never-ending set of risks, governance decisions and strategic initiatives as a result of investors’ growing emphasis on board transparency, accountability, and independence. This insightful panel focused on the evolving roles of board leaders, specifically, the independent chair and lead director. Drive higher-performing boards through improved processes, […]
Governance, Liquidity, and Employee Retention
Governance, Liquidity, and Employee Retention in an Era of Capital Abundance was the full title of last Thursday’s morning event sponsored by the Silicon Valley Directors Exchange and Stanford’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance. As billed, we were to hear a panel of experts discuss the role of the board of directors in addressing challenges of […]
Stockholder Engagement: Cooperation, Confrontation or Tacit Standoff?
Companies, and in particular boards, can no longer rely on ad hoc interaction with proxy advisory firms to “check the box” on stockholder engagement on governance issues. This SVDX/Rock Center panel addressed the evolving landscape of stockholder communications in light of increased profiles of institutional governance departments. What are best practices for board and company engagement […]
Governance Lessons from Wells Fargo
Tone at the Bottom: Governance Lessons from Wells Fargo That was the advertised title for the program co-sponsored by the Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Silicon Valley Directors Exchange. (Sign up to be on the SVDX mailing list.) After the program, I am still not convinced the real governance lesson from Wells Fargo (ticker: […]
Directors Prepare for Shareholder Activism
How should directors prepare for shareholder activism? That was the underlying question addressed by last week’s SVDX / Rock Center for Corporate Governance joint event – Shareholder Activism: The Good, the Bad or Just Ugly. Shareholder activism is in the news almost every day. How does it play out in Silicon Valley? Is activism beneficial to (some) shareholders in the […]
Video Friday: Replacing Board Members
As I reported in Replacing Board Members: The Elephant in the Room, SVDX and Stanford University’s Rock Center put on another great event last week that just about packed the house! These events are always top notch. A few nibbles and coffee or tea for breakfast, excellent company and a great program — what more could you want on third […]
Runaway Management: SVDX/Rock Center Event
It was another great jointly sponsored event at Stanford Law on April 16, 2015 – this one on runaway management teams. As noted in the promo for the event: Board membership is difficult enough these days, even when the relationship between board and management functions well. But when faced with runaway management teams, the situation […]
Lost in Translation: Directors & Cyber-Risks
Cyber-Risk Forum as Advertised by SVDX Directors aren’t chief technology officers (CTOs): What is the “right” level of inquiry and diligence when it comes to cyber-threats? Where will boards be held responsible for cyber-failures, and what can they do to protect their shareholders and themselves from frivolous suits? What did the Target board fail to […]
Pay it Forward for the World of 2025
How will 2025 be different from today? What should you innovate, invent, create or build? What steps should you take today to position yourself and your company to flourish in tomorrow’s world? Those were some of the questions that were asked and at least somewhat answered on Tursday, October 16, 2014, as the Silicon Valley […]
Video: Heads or Tails? The Art and Science of Executive Compensation
All directors are keenly aware of their responsibility in setting executive and CEO compensation. Increased external pressure on — and opinions about — CEO pay and more crowded meeting agendas limit the available time for meaningful discussion and make this role more challenging than ever. The stakes in getting executive compensation right are high, with […]
Heads Or Tails? The Art And Science Of Executive Compensation
I thought the title of the program referred to heads I win, tails you lose. Now, I’m thinking ‘art’ is one side of the compensation committee coin, ‘science’ the other. Titles that keep us on our toes – just like the programs held by the Silicon Valley Directors Exchange and the Rock Center for Corporate […]
Moving Day: Taking Out the Founder
As Advertised A passionate, visionary founder has the start-up organized and funded and captured first customers, but does not have the experience (or skill set) to scale the company to a liquidity event. The need to move the founder from CEO to an executive technical position or “just” a member of the board and an […]
Stock Buybacks: Smart or Foolish?
Should boards reexamine stock buybacks? That was the subject addressed by a distinguished panel during a recent SVDX program hosted at Stanford’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance. What follows is the SVDX meeting pitch, with issues and brief bios, followed by a few of my observations at the event. Watch the video wrap-up (below) from WMS media […]
Video Friday: SVDX Upcoming Event – Got Technology Chops?
If you don’t speak Geek, you’re not a competent director. Have you heard of “Big Data,” but aren’t sure what it really means (or how much it has to do with your industry)? Do you keep seeing articles about cyber-security, but couldn’t describe the difference between SQL-injection and a brute-force (hacking) attack, if your life […]