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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Jac Nasser, described as a chairman of chairmen, talks to Tony Featherstone about succession planning, leadership development, board composition and other governance matters at the world’s biggest mining company.
It is easy to judge boards only on big events: the CEO appointment, successi...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
A look at how the customised 'In-Boardroom' program can optimise your board’s capability.
How do you create a high-performing board? How do you fast-track the effective engagement and interaction of board members? How do you build board strength and capability? A feasible solution is to p...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Tony Featherstone warns that companies that ignore the income needs of the rapidly growing self-managed superannuation fund sector do so at their peril.
Responding to the investment needs of an ageing population and the seemingly unstoppable rise of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Martin Kriewaldt explains why he has enjoyed working on Company Directors’ National Conference Committee.
Company Director (CD): What are your current directorships?
Martin Kriewaldt (MK): I am chairman of Hyne Timber (a 130-year-old family-owned private company) and InteriorCo (an unl...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Sylvia Fernandez highlights the dangers of any unauthorised use or exploitation of confidential information.
In commercial dealings, it is not only contractual and statutory obligations to which companies and their directors need to pay attention. Equitable obligations, such as duties of ...
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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 Apr 2013
Ahead of the upcoming federal election, Phil Ruthven outlines the more urgent and overdue reforms he believes a true Australian leader should tackle.
Respect for once-admired occupations is in short supply so far in this new century.
The ranking of a cross section of occupations is reve...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Andrew Yeo outlines six common liability traps that often ensnare company directors.
There are many pieces of legislation in Australia where a director has some degree of personal liability. The past decades have seen an increase in the prevalence of such legislation affecting directors’ li...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
1944 - 2013
It is with great sadness that the Australian Institute of Company Directors learnt of the passing of its chairman, James Strong AO FAICD, last month.
Strong, who was also chairman of Kathmandu Holdings and a director of Qantas Airways, died aged 68 in Sydney on 3 March due to lun...
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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
Christopher Niesche provides some tips to help SME directors walking the blunt and blurry line between solvency and insolvency.
It’s truly frightening when you’re going through it, says Paul Cooper of entering what receivers call "the twilight zone".
"It’s very intense – it consumes v...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Tony Featherstone believes the chairmen of Australia’s largest listed companies may have a good argument for pay increases in the next few years, depending on company performance, of course.
Many listed company boards showed restraint with fee rises after the global financial crisis (GFC)...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Kathleen Conlon talks to Tony Featherstone about boardroom diversity, the risks of policy-on-the-run, strategy formation and how emerging directors can find their first board position.
A constant danger for boards is the potential for "groupthink" if directors agree too easily with the co...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Listed companies have jumped many hurdles to improve their executive pay practices and avoid falling foul of the "two-strikes" law. Now, as Domini Stuart reports, a new wave of pay reforms are heading their way.
The second reporting season since the introduction of the "two-strikes" rule l...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Many not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, were heading into a "perfect storm", if they weren’t already in it. That was the view of Dr John Harte FAICD, the founder and principal of Integrity Governance, when addressing the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ NFP Forum:13 in Sydney last month –...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
A monthly review of the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ policy and advocacy team’s key projects and issues.
Director Sentiment Index
Our latest Director Sentiment Index (DSI), released in April, reveals that overall director sentiment has increased 15 points on the la...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Domini Stuart finds that despite their many challenges, Australia’s 62 new Medicare Local boards are generally in good health.
Primary care is fundamental to the nation’s health and wellbeing; every year, more than 80 per cent of Australians visit a general practitioner (GP). It is also a...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
John M Green argues that an Asian century requires China to engender greater trust in the West.
The "Asian Century" beckons. Yet Australia’s Chinese-chequered history – over a century and a half long – suggests we’re already in our second Asian century.
As mid-20th century kids slapp...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Not-for-profit (NFP) boards and their fundraising staff were not seeing eye to eye and needed to start communicating better with each other as funding tightened in uncertain economic times. That was the view of Andrew Thomas, Perpetual’s general manager for philanthropy, when addressing the Australi...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2013
Australian directors are feeling gloomy about our economy and the Government’s understanding of business, but as Zilla Efrat reports, a silver lining has started to appear among the clouds.
In the run-up to the September federal election, Australian directors are pessimistic about the eco...