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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Louise Pocock provides some tips on how a board can help management strike a balance between short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
An effective board will generally adopt strategies that manage and strike a balance between short-, medium- and long-term horizons. That is, it will pay att...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Domini Stuart reports on some of the new opportunities and threats keeping directors on their toes in the ever more complex world of technology.
For most directors, technology is now a way of life. They know their way around a smartphone and tablet, and they see the growing importance of IT ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Gustaf Sorman-Nilsson argues that a "head in the sand" approach to social media will no longer be accepted by shareholders and stakeholders alike.
When faced with a social media storm in October 2012, chairman of Macquarie Radio Russell Tate admitted that "boards are not at all well prepa...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Fiona Baron investigates how companies are bedding down the carbon tax and coping with its compliance requirements.
The introduction of the Federal Government’s carbon tax in July 2012 was bound to be something of an anti-climax.
For directors in particular, once the politics surround...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2013
Far too few organisations are taking enough steps to protect one of their most valuable assets, intellectual property. Domini Stuart explains how the board can help them plug the leakage.
Ways to protect your IP:
Have regular audits to identify your IP assets
Develop poli...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Is your organisation prepared for an unexpected crisis? Domini Stuart discovers what’s best practice in disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
Thirty years ago, disaster recovery and business continuity plans (DR/BCPs) were little more than insurance policies. Decisions were ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Rob Elliott outlines some of Company Directors’ policy priorities for the year ahead.
To kick off the New Year, I thought it appropriate to outline some of our policy priorities for the year ahead. These priorities reflect our conversations with you, as well as with divisional representat...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Having been involved in the restructuring of the then troubled Centro property group, Susan Oliver suggests some ways in which directors can improve the success rate of their decision-making and value they contribute in the boardroom.
In November 2012, the Australian Securities and Invest...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
New technologies are turning old business models upside down or even killing them off entirely. Bob Hayward discusses how boards can help management to stay ahead of the technologies transforming their industries.
In recent years, information technology (IT) has shifted from being an esse...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
With uncertainty a new reality for many boards, Harvey Christophers discusses how a deeper understanding of risks will give directors confidence to make tough decisions in 2013.
More directors are beginning to accept that uncertainty may be the new reality. This is leading to a reassessme...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
Zilla Efrat asks some directors and advisers to forecast the risks that will keep directors up at night in 2013.
The directors
Elizabeth Carr FAICDChairman of the Macular Degeneration Foundation. Director of the Kokoda Track Foundation, Kambala Anglican School for Girls NSW and...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2012
Christopher Niesche explains why cyber threats will move higher up on the boardroom agenda and cannot be ignored in 2013.
Data security will become a priority for many companies and their boards in 2013 as the Federal Government moves to toughen up laws governing privacy breaches.
Com...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2012
Todd Hutchison discusses why projects go off the rails and how directors can help keep them on track.
The strategic direction is well documented, the operational plan rightly prioritises the project as critical, and the project plan seems comprehensive. Monthly project reports are being f...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2012
John M Green questions whether companies value culture and reputation highly enough.
In June, Barclays PLC’s outgoing chairman admitted the company’s role in the UK’s LIBOR inter-bank interest rate scandal had "dealt a devastating blow" to its reputation. Unsaid, but more important, was h...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2012
Tony Featherstone examines the many hurdles faced by mining boards and provides some tips on how directors can overcome them.
Spare a thought for Australia’s resource sector. It faces a perfect storm of falling commodity prices, rising costs, new federal and state government taxes and roy...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Nov 2012
Organisations cannot just shrink themselves to success. As Greg Hyde argues, short-term attempts to cut costs can heighten risks and can be much like squeezing a balloon and expecting it to get smaller.
Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap, the corporate cowboy of the 1990s, was one of those infamous CE...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Sep 2012
Jason Betts identifies four major lessons for directors from the growth of shareholder class action litigation and discusses how to address the risks.
The growth in class action litigation in Australia, particularly third-party funded class actions brought on behalf of shareholders agains...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2012
John M Green gets cultural as “risk appetite” leaves him peckish.
After the torrid last few years, regulators and governance gurus are latching onto "risk appetite" as the new god of risk management. I’m not a devoted believer because they’re ignoring culture.
Here’s a typical definit...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2012
Until recently, organisations have not had the tools to identify, measure or manage reputational risk. David Van discusses how directors should be managing this risk in the same way they manage other risks.
In 2005, an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey identified reputation as the ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2012
John M Green explains why intelligent and effective risk management and constructive scepticism are crucial in a world of imperfect information and human biases.
Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am." But more than a millennium earlier, St Augustine said: "Si fallor, sum." This is a ...