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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2010
Sam Butcher
explains why agreeing on and articulating the behaviours expected of directors can be a powerful tool to enhance board performance.
Using behaviours to drive board performance
High-performing boards proactively manage two critical dimensions of their work: the frameworks ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2010
A new breed of boards is likely to emerge as part of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s plan to reform the nation’s healthcare system.
Domini Stuart
gains some insights into how they could be created.
Building healthy boards
Challenges of sitting on a hospital board may include
A complex ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2009
Five directors predict how the role of non-executive directors will change in the next decade.
NEDs of 2020
Catherine Harris AO PSM FAICD
Chairman of Harris Farm Markets. Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australian Japan Foundation, National Gallery of Australia and the Australian S...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2009
Tony Featherstone
investigates why the founders of some family owned companies resist forming a board, and the benefits they may be missing out on.
Opening the family board to NEDs
Key points
A family company board poses unique challenges
Founders struggle w...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2009
John M Green
discusses how boards can improve on their CEO succession plans.
Inside outside CEOs
The three non-executive directors from different boards slipped into their regular chairs at the café.
“The Arbitz* board,” notes Peter, spooning sugar into his coffee. “Their CEO’s been doin...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2008
Ken Moss
discussed the role that power and authority play in a board’s relationship with its CEO at a recent AICD lunch in Perth. Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say.
Power and authority in the boardroomMany political figures have hung onto power for perhaps too long, including the li...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2008
Groupthink can dent a board’s decision making ability.
John Adams
explains why one shouldn’t just follow the pack.
Stepping out of line
Directors have a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that their boards make the most effe...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Sep 2007
Six years ago, Pasminco crashed and burned. Domini Stuart details how building a strong board helped Zinifex rise from its ashes.
Rising from the ashes
On 20 September, 2001, Pasminco was dismissed on ABC radio as the latest in a string of once-distinguished Australian companies either to have...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2007
Several experienced and emerging women directors discuss their views on why women are under-represented on Australian company boards with Helen McCombie.
Women on boards: are attitudes changing?
The results of the 2006 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Australian Censu...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2007
It is essential that new board members make an immediate contribution to the running of a company. Charles Beelaerts looks at how some Australian companies approach the challenge of integrating new board members into their organisations.
Putting out the welcome mat
...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2006
John Massey is as comfortable in the nursery caring for newborn babies as he is in the boardroom building multimillion dollar enterprises – but are these worlds as different as they seem? Nichola Clark reports.
The nurture of business
John Massey likes to describe himself as ‘a formalised e...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2006
Many government enterprises are now operating in competitive business environments. As Kevin Forde discovered, in order to survive they have had to change their public service mentality, retrain their staff, and get closer to their customers.
Breaking down bureaucracy
If you read the annual re...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Sep 2006
Several mid-cap companies were identified in a recent survey as having excellent corporate governance. Domini Stuart discovers what is needed for companies to achieve top marks for their corporate governance efforts.
How to hit your corporate governance targets
For the last five years, Horwath...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2006
St James Ethics Centre is currently undertaking a review of the performance of its board. One of the aims is to get an outsider’s opinion on both past board performance and the risks facing the organisation in the future. Kevin Forde outlines how this will happen.
Evaluating a not-for-profi...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2006
Mark Jones and Richard Leblanc believe that with Australian companies shifting corporate governance focus from conformance to performance, human chemistry is a key driver influencing the effectiveness of boards.
Human chemistry and independent assessment drive board performance
Boards need hig...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2006
Lynn Ralph and Alan Cameron of Cameron Ralph Pty Ltd outline some of the strengths and weaknesses of boards formed by selecting representatives from an organisation’s constituencies.
The challenges of a representational board
One aspect of the recent Oil for Food events, which led to the Cole ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2006
The family’s jewel
As one of the pioneers of the modern Western Australian fishing and pearling industries and with accolades as a leading neurogeneticist, Dr Patricia Kailis knows a thing or two about balancing the professional with the personal to make a family business thrive. Giles Parkin...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jan 2006
The rules of engagement
Even the most vigilant company can find itself caught in the public firing line as a result of an unexpected crisis. As Bruce C. Wolpe explains, this is not the time to consider ‘hedging the truth’ – especially when it comes to communicating with the media.
While head ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jan 2006
A fraction too much friction
A lot can be said for the productivity and results generated by healthy board bonding. So how do you create an environment of unity around the table – without eroding the independent views of directors? Helen McCombie writes.
There can be no greater example of boa...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2005
We have said earlier that the duties of directors are well defined in the law and don’t need change. Let’s consider some consequences of the duties.
Directors have a collective responsibility for the company as a whole. Shareholders put the fate of their company in directors’ hands. Through the CEO ...