Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom Insider Guidebook [Paperback]

Ralph D. Ward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2000

Must-Have, Firsthand Guidance for the 21st Century Boardroom

From the Wall Street Journal and top cable business news programs to global politics, the topic of corporate governance is in the business media spotlight. Yet despite this surge of popular attention and the board of directors' growing power and burdens, solid advice for running a better board remains scattered and inconsistent. At a time of sharp scrutiny and far tighter board accountability, today's corporate boards and top managers need practical wisdom more than ever. In this invaluable guidebook, the founder of the online newsletter Boardroom INSIDER compiles the best "first-person" advice for quality boards. Here are expert answers to the most widely asked governance questions from today's board members and top corporate management. From CEO evaluation to logistics and policymaking, bone up on:
* Effective board recruiting
* The hottest trends in board pay
* What to do when your CEO is the problem
* Running a smart audit committee
* How to manage board-meeting surprises
* Dealing with corporate counsel, boardroom battles, board investigations, and strikes
* Surviving the family boardroom
* Board retirement policies
* Career builders for women in the boardroom
* Putting your board retreat to work
* Strategies for nonprofit boards


Including dozens of helpful checklists and inside examples of the governance strategies of leading companies, Improving Corporate Boards will help all directors ask the questions that hold the key to better governance for the future.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Greater board independence, closer alignment of executive pay with performance, and tighter internal control--these areas have received raised attention in recent years in the United States and, increasingly, in Europe. But attempts to quantify such corporate-governance variables and link them to corporate performance have stumped academics and analysts alike.

Enter Improving Corporate Boards, part of a small but growing genre of how-to books on corporate governance. Author Ralph Ward focuses specifically on board-level governance, offering advice aimed primarily at corporate directors and with particular emphasis on the nonexecutive's role. As the writer for Boardroom Insider, an online corporate governance newsletter, Ward brings a wealth of anecdotal evidence to bear, sharing gems from his monthly Q&A feature in which directors pose anonymous questions to experts.

Each of the 25 chapters discusses a single aspect of board governance. Broadly, they cover: board, CEO, and committee duties and performance evaluation; board structure and leadership; the logistics of meetings and board communications; managing corporate image and corporate risk; governance in various organizational contexts; and hot governance topics. The checklist items are somewhat intuitive, but they're worth taking seriously in avoiding governance disasters; they also act as a handy guide to the contents of each chapter. Readers may also find useful the many links Ward provides to online sources of information: a stock options calculator, online listings of directorships available at nonprofits, industry reports, and so on.

In the final chapter, Ward notes that "through pension plans and mutual funds, the line between stakeholder and shareholder is increasingly blurring." It's an arguable point, with social, economic, and board-governance implications, but one that Ward leaves unexamined. That shortcoming aside, Improving Corporate Boards looks set to become a key contribution in the popularization of corporate governance. --Jackie Cook

From the Back Cover

Must-Have, Firsthand Guidance for the 21st Century Boardroom

From the Wall Street Journal and top cable business news programs to global politics, the topic of corporate governance is in the business media spotlight. Yet despite this surge of popular attention and the board of directors’ growing power and burdens, solid advice for running a better board remains scattered and inconsistent. At a time of sharp scrutiny and far tighter board accountability, today’s corporate boards and top managers need practical wisdom more than ever. In this invaluable guidebook, the founder of the online newsletter Boardroom INSIDER compiles the best "first-person" advice for quality boards. Here are expert answers to the most widely asked governance questions from today’s board members and top corporate management. From CEO evaluation to logistics and policymaking, bone up on:

• Effective board recruiting
• The hottest trends in board pay
• What to do when your CEO is the problem
• Running a smart audit committee
• How to manage board-meeting surprises
• Dealing with corporate counsel, boardroom battles, board investigations, and strikes
• Surviving the family boardroom
• Board retirement policies
• Career builders for women in the boardroom
• Putting your board retreat to work
• Strategies for nonprofit boards

Including dozens of helpful checklists and inside examples of the governance strategies of leading companies, Improving Corporate Boards will help all directors ask the questions that hold the key to better governance for the future.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (May 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471379379
• ISBN-13: 978-0471379379
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,813,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ralph D. Ward is an internationally-recognized writer and commentator on the role of boards of directors, the secrets of how "benchmark" boards excel, corporate scandals and reforms, and the future of governance worldwide. He is publisher of the online email newsletter Boardroom INSIDER, the worldwide source for practical, first-hand advice on better boards and directors. He also edits The Corporate Board magazine, and speaks and consults on governance issues.
Ward is author of the books Boardroom Q&A (2011), The New Boardroom Leaders (2008), Saving the Corporate Board (2003), Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom INSIDER Guidebook (2000), and 21st Century Corporate Board (1997).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Improving Corporate Boards, July 19, 2000

By 

David Schoon - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom Insider Guidebook (Paperback)

This new book is a home run for shareholders desiring greater accountability from the boards of directors they have hired as caretakers of their funds; and gives directors a handy reference book chock full of practical tools that practically every company will find useful.

After investing in public and private companies for over 30 years, serving on numerous public and private company boards, reading dozens of books and hundreds of articles on improving company boards and better corporate governance - this is the best I have come across. Companies should provide a copy of this book for each of their directors as a matter of policy, and investors should read it to discover valuable new insights into the crucial but often forgotten links between director quality, accountability, conflicts of interest and stock price performance.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a Clear Guide for Boards, May 19, 2000

By 

James Mcritchie "Publisher" (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom Insider Guidebook (Paperback)

One of the most frequent requests from readers of CorpGov.Net is for a book on how to improve their board. Finally I can recommend a book that doesn't read like a dry academic text and is built on real life examples. Finally, a clear guide to solving the most common problems facing boards. Each chapter provides a concise overview of a problem or focus area, several real life examples, internet resources, advice from various experts and a checklist summary. CalPERS should be sending Mr. Ward's book to each board member of the companies on its focus list.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Several Good Board Books, May 10, 2008

By 

J. Elwell "mokipal" (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom Insider Guidebook (Paperback)

I run a small ($20M sales) manufacturing company, and have had an outside Board for about 13 years. I was recently asked to prepare a 3-hour presentation about Boards for a group of small-business CEOs, so I purchased three books to help me with the presentation. In spite of having years of experience with Boards, I learned a lot from these books. They are:

5 Steps to Board Success, Mark Daly. A very methodical, step-by-step approach to creating a Board. Excellent if you are entirely new to the process, particularly for small companies, but a bit weak on some topics (e.g., committees) for larger companies. Includes a variety of forms and example documents that would really help get started. 5 stars for small, closely-held companies, 4 stars overall.

Creating Effective Boards for Private Enterprises, John Ward. An excellent book covering in much more detail than "5 Steps" the nature of Boards, their duties and obligations, etc. Not as strong on the mechanics of forming a Board, but very strong on how to maximize the value of your board. 5 Stars if you already have a Board, 4 stars overall.

Improving Corporate Boards, Ralph Ward. Appropriate for larger corporations with functioning boards. Many good topics and bits of information, plus a lot of references to web resources, with whole chapters on audit and compensation committees. Is the only one of the three to give minutes and document retention adequate coverage. Includes a chapter on how to become a Board member, and how to improve your performance if you are one. 4 Stars - good info but aimed at larger, already-functioning boards. A bit haphazard in organization.

I heavily flagged pages in all three books, and learned a lot from them all. Each has a different focus, so the amount of overlap was surprisingly small.