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Private Equity

Effective Boards Discipline Themselves to Think More Like Activist Outsiders

In his annual letter to National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) members, CEO Ken Daly put shareholder activism second on his director watch list for 2016. “Activists aren’t practicing black magic,” he wrote, “they are performing effective due diligence and smart...

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Board of Directors

Board Composition - The Unfinished Symphony: The art of building an engaged, diverse and harmonious corporate board

Board composition is a hot topic. At a time when serving as a corporate director is more demanding than ever, it’s also more important than ever for boards to recruit and retain diverse directors – in the broadest sense of the word – to challenge the management team with fresh...

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Directors as Strategic Company Assets: Making the most of very expensive real estate – board seats

Robyn Bew, director, strategic content development at National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) leads NACD’s initiatives with the institutional investor community, including dialogues between investors and directors and the development of the recently released “Investor...

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Board of Directors

The Long and the Short of It: NACD commission calls on “activist” directors to align companies’ short-term moves with long-term strategy

The debate seems as vociferous as it’s ever been. Are companies best served by focusing on delivering short-term results – a “beat the quarter” mentality – or by turning their gaze to the horizon and focusing on the long haul? Enter the National Association of...

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Board of Directors

Does the Deal Fit the Strategy? Directors should bring a healthy skepticism to proposed transactions

MCC: Let’s start with a general question. Please give us a top-level view of the roles and responsibilities of corporate directors in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions in which their companies might engage. Lajoux: I tend to be cautious when it comes to making...

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Board of Directors

Follow the Money: A new wave in executive compensation

MCC: Let’s begin broadly. What does it mean to align executive pay with corporate strategy? Franklin: First, let’s talk about strategy in the boardroom. An earlier NACD Blue Ribbon Commission as well as this one believes that the best practice today is for strategy formulation to be...

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Board of Directors

Total Recall: Diversity enters the fourth dimension in the boardroom and beyond

MCC: Let’s talk about how to define diversity when it comes to board directors. How has the definition evolved? Bew: The definition of diversity is becoming more comprehensive. Demographic diversity in terms of gender, race, ethnicity or age is usually what first comes to mind. In...

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