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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2013
Fiona Baron talks to father-and-son team and well-known directors from Cairns, George and Ken Chapman, about their views on directorships and what it takes to make a family business work.
George Chapman AO FAICD is every bit the entrepreneur. Back in the 1960s, at just 23 years old, he la...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2010
Do good things come in pairs?
Domini Stuart
investigates whether a two-tiered board would better clarify directors’ roles and responsibilities and help close the “expectation gap”.
Double trouble
A two-tiered board
May reduce NED liability
Could reset directors’ responsibilitie...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2010
I write to highlight the importance of claiming the privilege against self-incrimination.
When a company director is compelled by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to attend an examination, it is important to be aware of the right to claim the privilege against self-i...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2010
John Colvin
weighs into the debate of whether the expectation gap between how boards operate and what’s expected of them could be narrowed if directors’ roles were reformulated.
Great expectations
In business, we all know how important it is for any company to have appropriate and cl...
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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
Senior directors discussed the ins and outs of resigning from a board gracefully at the
Company Directors Conference, Directorship:10
in Christchurch, New Zealand, in May.
Should I stay or should I go?
Like many other experienced dire...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2009
Personality types add another layer of diversity to any boardroom.
Domini Stuart
reports on how the mix of personalities, and the way it is managed, can affect decision-making.
What’s your boardroom personality?
Boardroom personalities – key points
Boards not only consist of a m...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2009
John M Green
argues that boardroom collegiality isn’t the prize some treasure.
Contestable collegiality
A maxim many Australian board chairmen ascribe to is: “A good board doesn’t vote. It strives for consensus.” This approach is not merely bluster, but so prevalent in practice that some...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2009
Younger directors are our future.
Domini Stuart
reports on the pros and cons of having emerging directors on your board and provides some tips on how would-be directors can get started.
Tapping into the fountain of youth
Having emerging directors on your board
Younger directors:
...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2009
Rick Lee talks to
Zilla Efrat
about why he chose independent directorship as his third career and the challenges faced in the downturn.
Rick Lee’s third career
Rick Lee FAICD is busily enjoying his third career in life – being an independent director. He is chairman of Salmat and...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2009
John M Green
argues boards should maintain a healthy scepticism when dealing with experts.
Un-expert-ease, and why you need it
When we receive expert advice many of us embrace it as the gospel it is not. Turn your mind and your depleted life savings towards the global flock of mar...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2008
Tony Featherstone
warns that small mining companies risk collisions with institutional investors over directors’ pay and governance as they grow.
Turbulence ahead for miners
The issue of director pay is getting more attention as calls grow for greater use of long-term incentives t...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2006
Letters to the editor
Is it in the best interest of company directors to accept without qualification the claim by their auditors that they are ‘independent’? The word ‘independent’ as used by auditors does not have the meaning generally accepted in the community or in a law cou...
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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
There is continuing debate over the wisdom of appointing executives to the board – Helen McCombie outlines some advantages and disadvantages of having members of a company’s management team as part of the board.
Be prepared if management comes on board
Most corporate regulation in recent ye...
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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 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 Mar 2006
The path to independence
The most vexed clause of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Principles of Good Corporate Governance is 2.1, on the independence of directors. It says, in essence, that a majority of directors of a listed company must have had no prior connection with the company, as ...
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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 ...