Creating Effective Boards for Private Enterprises: Meeting the Challenges of Continuity and Competition (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The most complete handbook on boards for small to midsize private and family businesses, this bbook shows how to build a dynamic board of directors that can enhance the owner's ability to run the business. John L. Ward shows why private firms, facing increasing competitive challenges, need the in-depth expertise and objective feedback that a well-chosen board can provide, and demonstrates how owners and directors can work together to ensure a long and profitable life for the firm. Ward provides owners and directors with step-by-step guidelines for developing and managing a board- from writing the initial prospectus, through conducting lively meetings, to maintaining open, honest communication between owners, directors, spouses and family members, and other stakeholders in the firm. He shows how to-- * Find and attract the right directors- experienced business people * who can contribute the exact knowledge and expertise the company * needs to thrive and grow; * Compensate directors appropriately and protect them from legal liability; * Foster creative thinking about promising new directions for the * company, such as new products, services, or markets; and * Draw upon board expertise to improve the qualit and creativity of decision making about a wide range of issues, such as how to find sources of capital, develop the next generation of leadership, or recruit new talent. Ward illustrates this practical guide with extensive case examples from a wide of small to midsize businesses, including food service, printing, and chemical companies. He also offers sample board prospectuses, company mission statements, effective meeting agendas, and other essential tools for bringing the board together and encouraging its active participation in the business.

Product Details

• Paperback: 261 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (August 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555423523
• ISBN-13: 978-1555423520
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,665 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective, step-by-step map of the process., January 19, 1999

By A Customer

As a professional planning consultant, I've recommended this book many times to my clients. It is the best, most thorough and step-by-step map of the process of putting a board together that is available to my knowledge. Anyone with a closely held company who is considering putting an outside board together (and most should), this is the place to start.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very comprehensive guide to creating boards., August 23, 1998

By	Antonio Carlos Vidigal "antoniocarlosvidigal" (Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil) - See all my reviews

This is an extremely practical, thorough, study about how private companies can use boards to enhance their governance systems. The fact that a family owned compay does not have the legal obligation to have a board obscures the fact that boards are extremely useful management instruments. Prof. Ward shows the way to using this instrument efectively.

4 of 4 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

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.