Boardroom Excellence: A Commonsense Perspective on Corporate Governance.Business is often portrayed por·tray tr.v. por·trayed, por·tray·ing, por·trays 1. To depict or represent pictorially; make a picture of. 2. To depict or describe in words. 3. To represent dramatically, as on the stage. as the paragon of best practices when it comes to leadership and management. Yet since the turn of this century public corporations are viewed with increasingly more distrust due to widespread disclosures about personal interests of executives being placed ahead of those of stockholders. Attorney Paul Brauntas, author of Boardroom Excellence, has spent more than 40 years advising corporate officers and directors. In this extended essay he has distilled his experience into a compact piece summarizing how business has slipped from grace, describing in non-flattering terms what actually happens in boardrooms and offering concrete remedies for improvement of the governance process. Superintendents will readily acknowledge many of the presented unproductive board member behaviors or undesirable board member types such as The Fast Reader (opens board packet at the meeting), The Enduring Friend, The Sleeper Sleeper Stock in which there is little investor interest but that has significant potential to gain in price once its attractions are recognized. Antithesis of high flyer. , The Internet Traveler and The Know-It-All. Most superintendents will welcome the sections on "Questions the Directors Need to Answer," "Oversight Responsibilities," "Setting the Tone at the Top" and "What Values and Qualities Should Directors Possess?" The most powerful chapter may be the one titled "Role of the CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. ." The author calls upon CEOs to be courageous, a term rarely employed in the boardroom. Brauntas writes: "The CEO should seek to create a board meeting environment that encourages skepticism skepticism (skĕp`tĭsĭzəm) [Gr.,=to reflect], philosophic position holding that the possibility of knowledge is limited either because of the limitations of the mind or because of the inaccessibility of its object. and serious discussion and enables board members to disagree constructively." A courageous superintendent might wish to share this book with his or her board. The chapters on "Evaluation of Board Performance" and "Model Board of Directors" are outstanding. (Boardroom Excellence: A Commonsense com·mon·sense adj. Having or exhibiting native good judgment: "commonsense scholarship on the foibles and oversights of a genius" Times Literary Supplement. Perspective on Corporate Governance Corporate Governance The relationship between all the stakeholders in a company. This includes the shareholders, directors, and management of a company, as defined by the corporate charter, bylaws, formal policy, and rule of law. by Paul Brauntas, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Calif., 2004, 160 pp. with index, $24.95 hardcover) Art Stellar Superintendent, Taunton Public Schools, Taunton, Mass. |
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