Boards

Hitting the hiring bull’s-eye is one of an executive’s most important—and most difficult—responsibilities. Ten common mistakes can get in the way, but a pointed and systematic approach can virtually guarantee success.

Bonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […]

When should a family business give up on an outside leader?

Create something that will outlast you.

The turmoil at OpenAI offers five lessons - and one dire warning.

Have a plan in place before you actually need to use it.

When a crisis forces outside directors to navigate major changes, investors and directors must adopt new roles. The case of Royal Dutch/Shell provides...

Both have risks. Here's how to strike the right balance.

Sometimes the best way to re-imagine the use of an asset is to think about it as your only asset. Imagine slashed budgets, a hiring freeze, a tough competitive landscape, and unreasonable time constraints (or perhaps you don’t have to imagine this state). If you had zilch, you’d have to be more innovative, more passionate, […]

Board members need to understand the factors that impact their businesses. Economics, politics, and sector shifts are all vital issues on the agenda in the boardroom. But the agenda needs to keep pace with what is influencing business, and amongst the things that board members need to fully appreciate is the growing influence and power […]

If the CEO sits in the hot seat, the CFO’s chair is positively smoking. According to analysis conducted by the CFO Executive Board, annual CFO turnover at the largest 162 global companies between 1995 and 2003 was 17%—even higher than for CEOs—and three out of four current Fortune 500 finance officers have been in their […]

Expectations for company leaders have never been greater. This issue’s Spotlight illuminates the changing conditions that CEOs must adapt to, the skills they particularly need, certain executive lifestyle behaviors to watch out for, and the reasons you might want two people in the top job.

Companies don't win over investors just by issuing sustainability reports and engaging in other standard ESG practices. What they need to do, says Harvard...

Countries that have them tend to like them.

Innovation is now the be-all and end-all in every industry.

A new study finds no correlation between how a company's stock fares upon the announcement of a new CEO and the share price over that CEO's tenure. In...

Hire people who seek inspiration from what's coming next.

The IdeaXerox named Ursula Burns its CEO in 2009, marking the end of a nearly drama-free succession process. That was no accident: The outgoing CEO had spent nearly a decade orchestrating a smooth transition.

No one is in a better position to get an incoming CEO up to speed than his or her predecessor, whose insights and accumulated wisdom are uniquely valuable...

Three decision-making traps.