Boardroom INSIDERsm
Boardroom INSIDER is the online newsletter for better boards and better directors (www.boardroominsider.com). Ralph Ward, publisher, is also author of the books Saving The Corporate Board, Improving Corporate Boards - The Boardroom INSIDER Guidebook, and 21st Century Corporate Board.
For a free trial subscription, visit the Boardroom INSIDER info page, or call (989) 833-7615.
Boardroom INSIDER News Blog........5/08
TODAY'S CORPORATE BOARDS: STRONG ON COMPLIANCE, BUT WEAK ON STRATEGY?
America's post-reform corporate boards are designed to do a solid job of compliance oversight when it comes to meeting all the new corporate governance rules. But has this weakened the board's value as a savvy strategic partner to management?
Could be, suggests the May issue of online governance monthly Boardroom INSIDER. Publisher Ralph Ward expands on comments he gave to the April 24 USAToday article on Microsoft's campaign to acquire Yahoo. Noting that MSFT's acquisition success record in recent years has been less than stellar, Ward queries whether the past decade's sharp change in Microsoft's board makeup could be a factor. Prodded both by Sarbanes-Oxley governance reforms and the company's antitrust woes, the board has evolved from a small band of insiders to broad-based body of non-tech business overseers.
But Ward notes this may improve "checklist" legal governance compliance at the expense of directors able to give a street-smart reality check to strategic moves like acquisitions. Ward observes that a strong "monitoring" board might keep "Microsoft out of court at the cost of making bad deals."
Also in the May issue of Boardroom INSIDER:
Board committees - time to overhaul their role?
