Boards At Work: How Corporate Boards Create Competitive Advantage (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) [Hardcover]

Ram Charan (Author)

Book Description

Series: J-B US non-Franchise Leadership | Publication Date: March 1998

Unleash one of your company's greatest competitive weapons.

Ram Charan is a wise counselor and keen observer on the front lines of the American board revolution. Boards At Work is a rare blAnd of candid stories of casualties, of victories, and of sound ideas for change illustrated with real-world examples of how to adopt them.


--William Adams, director, Bell Atlantic and other boards

Unleash one of your company's greatest competitive weapons. In this timely new work, ace consultant Ram Charan takes an eye-opening look at how many boards are transcAnding tradition by becoming dynamic partners in corporate governance. He also shows CEOs how they can go about tapping the vast storehouse of experience and wisdom a board's membership represents. Filled with specific instructions and strategies, Fortune 500 examples, and real-time tools for initiating board transformations, Boards At Work takes readers to the front lines of the American board revolution.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In spite of dozens of recent articles in the popular business press and professional journals and several newer books all detailing the duties and responsibilities of members of boards of directors, the perception of what boards are for or what they do can still be fuzzy. Charan, who has written a number of articles for the Harvard Business Review, helps set the record straight in this compilation of some of the best practices that he has observed as a consultant to corporate executives and boards of directors. Not only does he make clear what the role of the board is, he also emphasizes the potential value of the board as a strategic resource. Charan covers how to find new board members, the kind of information the board needs and receives and the ways in which it is conveyed, shareholder relations, evaluation of CEOs and other oversight functions, and succession planning. His final focus is on the role of the board of directors as a change agent. David Rouse

Review

"In this book, Ram Charan confronts the critical issues faced by the boards of directors of publicly traded companies in a way only he can. His valuable views and opinions come from years of consulting with some of America's best-known and most successful chairmen and CEOs, who also share their direct insights on the most controversial of topics. More than a good book on management, this is a reference to be used over and over again." --Jerome Meyer, chairman and CEO, Tektronix Inc., and director of AMP

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787910600
• ISBN-13: 978-0787910600
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #551,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ram Charan is the coauthor of bestsellers Execution and Confronting Reality and the author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and 10 other books. A noted expert on business strategy, he has coached some of the world's most successful CEOs and helped companies like GE, Bank of America, Verizon, KLM, and Thomson shape and implement their strategic direction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound advice on good governance, March 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Boards At Work: How Corporate Boards Create Competitive Advantage (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

This book shows top executives how to use the knowledge of, and open up communication channels with, board members. It details practices of several major corporations. The author highlights all key points increasing the value of this work. Several helpful self-evaluation instruments are included. This work offers sound advice on good governance. Recommended to executives and directors.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely Executive Book for 2002, July 26, 2002

By 

Bruce V. Culver - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boards At Work: How Corporate Boards Create Competitive Advantage (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

With all of the recent turmoil in US companies caused by some high profile CEOs and boad of directors not maintaining the highest level of accountability and integrity, I pulled this book back off of the shelf for a re-read.

Ram Charan's advocacy of companies building a strong independent board, one that has more than rubber-stamp responsibilities is more timely now than when it was written. The author has worked with some of the best companies, boards and executives around...some have succeeded and others have failed. Yet, his insight is one that focuses on accountability and frequent, frank evaluations of both roles: the board director and the CEO.

I found the final chapters that focused on the Chairman/CEO evaluation to be insightful, detailed and organized to provide any director with the framework to ask the right questions.

I recommend this book now to all senior executives to read again, focusing on the evaluation process that your leader should be subject to. I recommend this book even more to those board directors that face a responsibility to shareholders and employees, that they will oversight the senior leaders and hold them accountable to building businesses with integrity...not just providing the right numbers on a scorecard.

5.0 out of 5 stars Corporate boards, October 22, 2007

By 

P. Gleason - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Boards At Work: How Corporate Boards Create Competitive Advantage (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

I read Ram Charan's "Boards at Work" from the library and liked it so much, I bought 7 copies.