By Julie Garland McLellan on January 31, 2012
Ingrid is a director on the board of a small listed company. The Chairman is an ‘industry veteran’ and, whilst greatly respected for his experience and knowledge is also followed by a reputation for drinking more alcohol than he can safely handle. For the past two years all has gone well and Ingrid has grown [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on January 24, 2012
Company directors are currently working harder than ever before as they attempt to steer their companies through the chaos caused by the global financial crisis. Many organisations that have suffered (or even precipitated) the crisis displayed most of the externally visible attributes of good governance. Good governance structures and reporting are associated with good corporate [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on November 21, 2011
Graham worked as a management consultant assisting the national operations of a company that has grown over twenty years acquiring ‘non-family’ shareholders who now account for 40% of the capital. The founder’s son, who owns 10% of the shares, heads an overseas division and is a director. The founder retains the remaining 50% and is [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on September 27, 2011
One of the longest running and most passionately argued debates on LinkedIn concerns the issue of payment for directors of not-for-profit organisation boards. Although the focus of the mainstream press has remained fixed on the high salaries of executive directors and the apparent abuses of performance hurdles so that executives are rewarded for destroying, rather [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on July 2, 2011
Probably the most important procedure that the board will undertake is the board meeting. At this meeting members of the board obtain and exchange information from each other and from the executive team, establish the objectives of the organisations, take decisions on courses of action and investments, delegate authority to the management team, and jointly [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on June 1, 2011
Here are some ideas I drafted for a debate on gender quotas. I would love to have your feedback: I consider myself to be a professional company director. I am chairman of an ASX listed company, sit on another listed board, am on the board of a company that is planning an IPO, and also [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on June 1, 2011
Here are some thoughts I put together on the issue of board gender balance. I would love to have your feedback on these.
By Carter McNamara on April 7, 2011
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By Julie Garland McLellan on November 19, 2010
This blog post explores the use of detailed board minutes and the risks of inadvertent disclosure.
By Carter McNamara on April 19, 2010
What About “Big Names”? Many Board members believe that adding a very prominent person to the Board will bring great prestige and credibility to the Board. They believe that funders and other organizations will take those Boards much more seriously. Often, that’s a big mistake. Rarely do those famous people ever show up to the [...]