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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2010
Technology advancements are creating new opportunities and threats for companies. The Australian Institute of Company Directors and CSC hosted a discussion on how boards can respond.
Stepping up to IT challenges
Rapid technology changes are creating a host of challenges for directors.
The g...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2010
A number of reform initiatives could lead to an overhaul of the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. We asked three NFP directors how they believed the role of directors could change and what new challenges could be created for them.
Shaking up the NFP sector
Darren Beazley MAICDPresident, Asth...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2010
The Bradley Report and global financial crisis have created many challenges for university boards. And, as
Domini Stuart
reports, there are more higher learning tests to come.
Higher learning challenges
University board challenges will include:
Implementing changes from the ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2010
An AICD study unveils details about the huge contribution Australia’s directors make to the not-for-profit sector.
Directors’ Social Impact Study
Towards the end of 2009, AICD set out to gain further insights into the contribution directors make to the economy and society through their engagem...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2010
Q&A with Howard McDonald
On a muggy Melbourne morning, Howard McDonald MAICD arrives just in time for his interview with Company Director. The Myer Holdings chairman had been in meetings about the proposed café for Myer’s soon-to-be redeveloped flagship store. “I want the food offering to be bu...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2010
Is a school board right for you?
Domini Stuart
investigates the ABCs of venturing back into the school yard.
Back to school
Joining a school board
The legal duties can be the same as other boards
Running schools can be extremely complex
Financials are always very tight
Due...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2010
John M Green
explores “oil and water mergers” and acquisitions, which can appear attractive yet be disastrous.
Oil and water mergers
The world needs both oil and water. Water is vital for survival. Some even splash it into whisky. Oil creates power, transport... and Lycra. But if ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2010
A boom in IPO activity is expected, which could stimulate director appointments this year. But as
Tony Featherstone
discovers, directors accepting an IPO board position may not fully appreciate what they are getting into.
Starting from scratch
The challenges of an IPO board inclu...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2010
Mary Verschuer
examines the challenges faced by Australian directors following the recent Copenhagen climate summit.
Post-Copenhagen climate change challenges
The outcome of the Copenhagen climate summit was somewhat less than expected. Many hoped for some certainty about the cons...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2010
The global financial crisis provided a brief respite in the war for talent.
Janine Mace
investigates how boards can assist as conditions on the battlefield heat up again.
As the war heats up
Recruitment trends
With the GFC out of the way, directors will ne...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2010
Boards need to target potential CEO underperformance well before bigger problems emerge.
Tony Featherstone
provides some tips on how to spot a CEO who isn’t up to scratch and what to do about it.
When the CEO isn’t up to scratch
Key points
Boar...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2009
The Productivity Commission is due to submit its final report on executive remuneration to the Government later this month.
Paul Quinn
explains why he believes some of its recommendations need to be reworked.
Making exec pay PC
The reaction to the Productivity Commission’s (PC) disc...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2009
Domini Stuart
discusses how the board can help a company reshape itself in good or bad times.
Redrawing the lines
In tough times, boards should:
Be proactive
Bring in advisers sooner rather than later
Talk to management regularly
Demand frequent finan...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2009
A peek at some of the issues directors need to consider as we edge into an increasingly carbon-constrained business world.
Climate change update
Corporate Australia has passed a key first hurdle with flying colours as it enters a new carbon constrained world.
The Department of Climate Change’s...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2009
Director turnover is at its lowest in several years.
Tony Featherstone
provides some reasons for this and explains why this situation will soon change.
The low down on director turnover
After such a tumultuous two years, board turnover should be rising sharply. It is not. New dir...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2009
John M Green
suggests boards ditch the old short-termist penny-farthing corporate model.
Penny-farthing companies
Just as cyclist Lance Armstrong owes the industrial revolution for the penny-farthing, investors should thank it for the freely registrable limited liability corporation.
Sin...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2009
Letters to the editor
I read Tony Featherstone’s article on ‘Unseating the founder’ (Company Director, June 2009) with great interest. As with any good article, the title was provocative and the content worthy of reflection. Here are a couple of probing questions that add to those raised in the art...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2009
Tony Featherstone argues that organisations should not forget values and culture when making tough decisions in a harsh economic environment.
Upholding values and culture
A friend was recently made redundant due to corporate downsizing. By his own admission, he was no star, but hardworking and...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2009
Tony Featherstone
discusses how smaller companies can build up their arsenal, draw up their war plans and harness their troops to take on the downturn.
Plotting your moves
In downturns, smaller companies should:
Review the battle grounds carefully
Update their combat strategies
Anticipa...
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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...