By Alex Baum, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, and Jacob Welch
Stanford Closer Look Series, October 9, 2017
Board members rely on information provided by management to inform their decisions. Unfortunately, some research calls into question the adequacy of the information the board members receive and, by extension, the quality of decisions they are able to make. Based on observations by ValueAct Capital, this Closer Look examines shortcomings that plague corporate board books and provides recommendations for remedying them.
We ask:
• In general, what is the quality of information that public company directors receive?
• What can board members do to improve information quality and presentation?
• What are the institutional impediments standing in the way improving board books?
A good strategy is the blueprint for business success. For many organizations, mergers and acquisitions
are a critical component of their blueprint. Although the value drivers such as cost cutting, the promise of
new channels and customers, and improved competitive positioning may vary from company to company,
one thing is constant – after the deal is done, executives need to refresh their strategy and they need to
do it fast.
In recent years, a number of Nordic companies have tried to capture synergies by centralizing functions, only to find that in optimizing those individual functional efficiencies they've compromised their overall advantage. The good thing is that there are ways to avoid these kinds of traps - read about them in our white paper on the subject
Measure What Matters - New Perspectives on Portfolio SelectionUMT
Stock market investors articulate their goals explicitly or implicitly by following the philosophy and methodology of a market expert that fits their investment objectives and appetite for risk. For example, for value and income stocks they may rely on the research conducted by Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel¹ or read up on market pros like War-ren Buffet. Much like the stock market investor, companies investing in change face similar challenges when considering where to allocate budget and resources to meet financial and strategic objectives.
August White Paper 1/2017: Winning Through Better Organizational PerformanceAugust Associates
One of management’s key tasks is to keep improving the performance of their organization. This is particularly important, as markets expect continuous improvement in profitability and growth, but delivering such results is difficult in today’s stagnant economy. No wonder so many Finnish companies have told us that building a high-performing organization is at the top of their list of strategic priorities. But how should you go about it?
A good strategy is the blueprint for business success. For many organizations, mergers and acquisitions
are a critical component of their blueprint. Although the value drivers such as cost cutting, the promise of
new channels and customers, and improved competitive positioning may vary from company to company,
one thing is constant – after the deal is done, executives need to refresh their strategy and they need to
do it fast.
In recent years, a number of Nordic companies have tried to capture synergies by centralizing functions, only to find that in optimizing those individual functional efficiencies they've compromised their overall advantage. The good thing is that there are ways to avoid these kinds of traps - read about them in our white paper on the subject
Measure What Matters - New Perspectives on Portfolio SelectionUMT
Stock market investors articulate their goals explicitly or implicitly by following the philosophy and methodology of a market expert that fits their investment objectives and appetite for risk. For example, for value and income stocks they may rely on the research conducted by Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel¹ or read up on market pros like War-ren Buffet. Much like the stock market investor, companies investing in change face similar challenges when considering where to allocate budget and resources to meet financial and strategic objectives.
August White Paper 1/2017: Winning Through Better Organizational PerformanceAugust Associates
One of management’s key tasks is to keep improving the performance of their organization. This is particularly important, as markets expect continuous improvement in profitability and growth, but delivering such results is difficult in today’s stagnant economy. No wonder so many Finnish companies have told us that building a high-performing organization is at the top of their list of strategic priorities. But how should you go about it?
Chapter 7 implementing startegies : Management and OperationsInikeAprilia1
Chapter 7 implementing startegies : Management and Operations by Inike Aprilia L (1511011009) and silvia (1511011010) from economic and business faculty, University of Lampung
Mark Fasold, Strategic
Advisor to Falls River Group (FRG) – IMAP USA, delves
into the world of strategic financial management.
Sharing a step-by-step process, he explains why it
should be integral to strategic decision making and
business planning, and how if done correctly, it will have
a positive impact on a company’s enterprise value
The financial metrics and their influence on behavioursOlimjon Suleymanov
Performance measures have been known to affect behaviour. If employees know that they are being judged according to how their performance meets certain standards, they will strive to uphold those
standards in order to be rewarded. Ideally, performance measures should be designed to reward positive behaviour that maximises the corporate goal. However, in the modern business climate, shareholder value maximisation has become a central tenet of the way that most companies are run, usually at the expense of other important criteria. This paper will aim to explore the negative side-effects of an over-fixation with modern performance metrics on employee behaviour.
Chapter 8 implementing startegies : MARKETING, FINANCE/ACCOUNTING, R&D, AND MIS ISSUES
by Inike Aprilia L (1511011009) and silvia (1511011010) from economic and business faculty, University of Lampung
The Age of Alignment Part II: Getting Strategy-Driven Performance Measurement...Pearl Meyer
Our December webinar explored a fundamental question that was raised by the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Strategy Development: “Does your company’s incentive structure reinforce or unintentionally undermine its chosen strategy?”
During that webinar, I talked with my colleague on the Blue Ribbon Commission, Pearl Meyer and Partners’ Steve Van Putten, along with Michael Ng who is with us again today. We discussed the alignment of business strategy and compensation, the role of the Board, the hallmarks of a properly aligned program and examples of various approaches to design, monitoring and revision.
Today, we will build on that topic and take an in-depth look at how Boards can implement the right performance measures to ensure a compensation program that will be an effective tool for driving corporate strategy. With Pearl Meyer and Partners’ Managing Director Matt Turner taking the lead, we will look at measurement selection and mix, and practical concerns for measurement, goal setting and the on-going administration and governance of a winning program.
Organisations spend heavily on technology, people skills and consulting to understand billions of bits of data, but they still lack clear visibility and insight.....
Keith turner quick silver funding solutions the role of finance in the stra...keithturnerquicksilverfun
A good strategic plan includes metrics that translate the vision and mission into specific end points. This is critical because strategic planning is ultimately about resource allocation and would not be relevant if resources were unlimited.
ALL THE DETAILS ARE MENTIONED IN THE DOCUMENT RELATED TO ALL 4 PERSPECTIVES OF BSC.
-REFERRED MAINLY FOR STRATEGIC COST MANAGEMENT.
-INCLUDES ALL THE EXPLANATION WITH APPROPRIATE EXAMPLES & CASE STUDY
Managing Finance (MNGFIN) Week 4 Budgeting and accounting.docxinfantsuk
Managing Finance (MNGFIN)
Week 4: Budgeting and accounting for control
Budgets and strategic planning
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 6)
At this point in your studies, you are most likely familiar with the importance of
strategic planning for organisations. Such planning requires the setting of a long-
term mission that all individuals within the company seek to fulfil. This is
accomplished through the development of smaller, more specific goals and
objectives that are to be accomplished in a shorter time period. These specific goals
and objectives are expressed and shown through the determination and use of
budgets. Budgets are very important tools that play an integral role in the strategic
planning process. In simple terms, budgets are tactical and operational plans
established from strategic plans and are prepared to attain certain objectives
expressed in financial terms. While the company may have a goal of, say, ‘being the
largest organisation within its industry’, this statement falls short in terms of
measurement. In order to judge whether this goal was accomplished or not, we must
express the objective in certain financial terms, such as market share, sales revenue,
or profits.
Budgets offer the benefit of serving as a measuring stick against which actual
performance can be compared to planned or desired performance. By expressing
goals in financial terms, the organisation is then able to properly compare its actions
and results to ensure that efforts are in line with its strategic mission. Usually
prepared for a 1-year time period and then broken down into smaller units, such as
months, budgets offer flexibility while also being forward-looking. These tools should
not be thought of as constraining, where staying within the budget must take place
no matter what must be sacrificed. Rather, budgets serve as a control mechanism,
providing a framework that the organisation or business unit should seek to work
within. Realistic budgets should serve as a motivating factor for managers to meet
certain standards and also serve as a barometer that detects when things are going
off course. In this reading you will explore how budgets support the strategic
planning process as well as how different types of budgets are interrelated. The
authors also provide a general overview of the planning and control process.
Budgets for performance evaluation
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 6)
While budgets serve as frameworks that help to guide individuals within the
organisation, they are also excellent methods for evaluating the performance of
divisions, business units, managers, and/or employees. Since budgets incorporate
desired results, organisations are able to compare the actual results against the
planned and desired results to determine if objectives were met. If not, managers are
better able to discern what areas fell short of expectations. By examin ...
Chapter 7 implementing startegies : Management and OperationsInikeAprilia1
Chapter 7 implementing startegies : Management and Operations by Inike Aprilia L (1511011009) and silvia (1511011010) from economic and business faculty, University of Lampung
Mark Fasold, Strategic
Advisor to Falls River Group (FRG) – IMAP USA, delves
into the world of strategic financial management.
Sharing a step-by-step process, he explains why it
should be integral to strategic decision making and
business planning, and how if done correctly, it will have
a positive impact on a company’s enterprise value
The financial metrics and their influence on behavioursOlimjon Suleymanov
Performance measures have been known to affect behaviour. If employees know that they are being judged according to how their performance meets certain standards, they will strive to uphold those
standards in order to be rewarded. Ideally, performance measures should be designed to reward positive behaviour that maximises the corporate goal. However, in the modern business climate, shareholder value maximisation has become a central tenet of the way that most companies are run, usually at the expense of other important criteria. This paper will aim to explore the negative side-effects of an over-fixation with modern performance metrics on employee behaviour.
Chapter 8 implementing startegies : MARKETING, FINANCE/ACCOUNTING, R&D, AND MIS ISSUES
by Inike Aprilia L (1511011009) and silvia (1511011010) from economic and business faculty, University of Lampung
The Age of Alignment Part II: Getting Strategy-Driven Performance Measurement...Pearl Meyer
Our December webinar explored a fundamental question that was raised by the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Strategy Development: “Does your company’s incentive structure reinforce or unintentionally undermine its chosen strategy?”
During that webinar, I talked with my colleague on the Blue Ribbon Commission, Pearl Meyer and Partners’ Steve Van Putten, along with Michael Ng who is with us again today. We discussed the alignment of business strategy and compensation, the role of the Board, the hallmarks of a properly aligned program and examples of various approaches to design, monitoring and revision.
Today, we will build on that topic and take an in-depth look at how Boards can implement the right performance measures to ensure a compensation program that will be an effective tool for driving corporate strategy. With Pearl Meyer and Partners’ Managing Director Matt Turner taking the lead, we will look at measurement selection and mix, and practical concerns for measurement, goal setting and the on-going administration and governance of a winning program.
Organisations spend heavily on technology, people skills and consulting to understand billions of bits of data, but they still lack clear visibility and insight.....
Keith turner quick silver funding solutions the role of finance in the stra...keithturnerquicksilverfun
A good strategic plan includes metrics that translate the vision and mission into specific end points. This is critical because strategic planning is ultimately about resource allocation and would not be relevant if resources were unlimited.
ALL THE DETAILS ARE MENTIONED IN THE DOCUMENT RELATED TO ALL 4 PERSPECTIVES OF BSC.
-REFERRED MAINLY FOR STRATEGIC COST MANAGEMENT.
-INCLUDES ALL THE EXPLANATION WITH APPROPRIATE EXAMPLES & CASE STUDY
Managing Finance (MNGFIN) Week 4 Budgeting and accounting.docxinfantsuk
Managing Finance (MNGFIN)
Week 4: Budgeting and accounting for control
Budgets and strategic planning
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 6)
At this point in your studies, you are most likely familiar with the importance of
strategic planning for organisations. Such planning requires the setting of a long-
term mission that all individuals within the company seek to fulfil. This is
accomplished through the development of smaller, more specific goals and
objectives that are to be accomplished in a shorter time period. These specific goals
and objectives are expressed and shown through the determination and use of
budgets. Budgets are very important tools that play an integral role in the strategic
planning process. In simple terms, budgets are tactical and operational plans
established from strategic plans and are prepared to attain certain objectives
expressed in financial terms. While the company may have a goal of, say, ‘being the
largest organisation within its industry’, this statement falls short in terms of
measurement. In order to judge whether this goal was accomplished or not, we must
express the objective in certain financial terms, such as market share, sales revenue,
or profits.
Budgets offer the benefit of serving as a measuring stick against which actual
performance can be compared to planned or desired performance. By expressing
goals in financial terms, the organisation is then able to properly compare its actions
and results to ensure that efforts are in line with its strategic mission. Usually
prepared for a 1-year time period and then broken down into smaller units, such as
months, budgets offer flexibility while also being forward-looking. These tools should
not be thought of as constraining, where staying within the budget must take place
no matter what must be sacrificed. Rather, budgets serve as a control mechanism,
providing a framework that the organisation or business unit should seek to work
within. Realistic budgets should serve as a motivating factor for managers to meet
certain standards and also serve as a barometer that detects when things are going
off course. In this reading you will explore how budgets support the strategic
planning process as well as how different types of budgets are interrelated. The
authors also provide a general overview of the planning and control process.
Budgets for performance evaluation
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 6)
While budgets serve as frameworks that help to guide individuals within the
organisation, they are also excellent methods for evaluating the performance of
divisions, business units, managers, and/or employees. Since budgets incorporate
desired results, organisations are able to compare the actual results against the
planned and desired results to determine if objectives were met. If not, managers are
better able to discern what areas fell short of expectations. By examin ...
Corporate Governance a Balanced Scorecard approach with KPIs between BOD, Exe...Chris Rigatuso
This paper, from 2003, during my time at Oracle, was an early attempt to define metrics for inducing accountability between BOD, executives, and operating management of corporations. It's geared to large companies, but the lessons are broadly appreciable. It was published in CFO Reviews by Anderson Consulting, and other places. It predates the SOX Sarbanes Oxley laws that were a result of the Enron Scandal.
Financial analysis refers to business assessment in terms of stability, viability, profitability, and other important financial and non-financial factors. It is done through several different techniques, ratios, and charts, with the purpose of transforming static numbers from or in financial statements, to an added value for decision-makers. Usually, the analyzed information and the analysis results are presented frequently as a report or as a dashboard.
A dashboard (or data visualization) is used to present all indicators at once to help owners, investors, or managers make efficient decisions by identifying specific actions that should be taken to reach future targets or goals.
Horngren’s Cost Accounting A Managerial Emphasis, Canadian 9th edition soluti...ssuserf63bd7
https://qidiantiku.com/solution-manual-for-horngrens-cost-accounting-a-managerial-emphasis-canadian-9th-edition-by-srikant-m-datar.shtml
Full download please contact u84757@protonmail.com or qidiantiku.com
Managing Finance (MNGFIN)
Week 5: Strategic management accounting
The nature and role of strategic management accounting
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 9)
Last week’s objectives helped you develop an understanding of the role of budgets
in the strategic planning process. Budgets are useful tools for setting financial
standards of performance and act as motivators for effective management. However,
budget preparation, management, monitoring, and analysis represent only a small
portion of the role that management accounting can take within the strategic
planning process. Of course, strategic planning requires an organisation to fully
examine and analyse itself both internally and externally.
Management accounting is a unique field that is excellently positioned to assist with
both the internal evaluation as well as external analysis that organisations must
conduct to remain competitive. It may seem that management accounting is strongly
focused on the measuring of internal performance of the organisation. This was the
common belief for many years; however, in the contemporary business landscape,
companies are finding that they can also practice such analysis on their competitors
as well as their customers. Consequently, this forces them to be more outward
looking, to develop competitive strategies, and to monitor these strategies using the
appropriate range of performance measurements. The role of management
accounting is expanding from supportive to participative as new methods are being
used to help meet corporate strategic objectives.
Competitor and customer profitability analysis
Textbook reading (Atrill & McLaney: Ch. 9)
To better understand the expanding strategic role that management accounting is
acquiring within the organisation, it is important to examine two key areas from this
field: competitor analysis and customer profitability analysis. The methods and
techniques that you have examined and explored to this point have all been focused
on measuring and analysing the performance of the organisation itself. This
information is of great importance, as it provides detail with regards to profitability,
sustainability, etc. However, if the concentration remains solely on the individual
organisation, true analysis has fallen short, as companies do not operate in vacuums.
Managers must do their best to understand the competitive stance of other
organisations with regards to costs, strategies, resources, capabilities, and
objectives. In other words, an organisation must do its best to understand what its
competition might do if it were to reduce prices, launch a new product, or attempt to
enter a new market. While obtaining such precious information proves to be difficult
at times, there are numerous sources that can be utilised, such as public financial
reports, industry reports, government statistics, and simple observations of
behaviours and a ...
In many modern major enterprises, financial controllership functions have been just that – functional. Generally focused on managing risk, they have included technical accounting and financial reporting support, the implementation and maintenance of accounting standards, the management, simplification and improvement of processes and the guardianship of internal controls. Insightful controllership provides an entirely new way of looking at financial controllership.
No organisation is the best at everything it does. And being second in most activities can add up to coming first overall. All managers recognise that it is up to them to improve continuously the operations that they are responsible for. But that aspiration is blunted because they don’t know how much better their performance could be.
Benchmarking is the structured comparison of an organisation’s products, services, processes or activities with those of an external organisation that is believed to have better performance. The goal is to pinpoint the factors that contribute to that superiority, and to adopt them.
Organisations usually compare themselves with the leaders in their own industrial sectors. But comparison can also be made with processes that, although in other sectors, have similar characteristics – such as shared service centres. An airline compared the processes in the ‘turnaround time’ for planes with those used in pit stops for racing cars. Benchmarking with non-competitors
can increase the quality and quantity of the information available.
Authored by: David F. Larcker, Bradford Lynch, Brian Tayan, and Daniel J. Taylor, June 29, 2020
Investors rely on corporate disclosure to make informed decisions about the value of companies they invest in. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to examine disclosure practices of companies relative to peers in real time about a somewhat unprecedented shock that impacted practically every publicly listed company in the U.S. We examine how companies respond to such a situation, the choices they make, and how disclosure varies across industries and companies.
We ask:
• What motivates some companies to be forthcoming about what they are experiencing, while others remain silent?
• Do differences in disclosure reflect different degrees of certitude about how the virus would impact businesses, or differences in management perception of its obligations to shareholders?
• What insights will companies learn to prepare for future outlier events?
Authored by: avid F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, CGRI Research Spotlight Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative (CGRI), April 2020
This Research Spotlight provides a summary of the academic literature on board composition, quality, and turnover. It reviews the evidence of:
The appointment of outside CEOs as directors
The importance of industry expertise to performance
The relation between director skills and performance
The stock market reaction to director resignations
Whether directors are penalized for poor oversight
This Research Spotlight expands upon issues introduced in the Quick Guide Board of Directors: Selection, Compensation, and Removal.
David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, April 21, 2020, Stanford Closer Look Series
Little is known about the process by which pre-IPO companies select independent, outside board members—directors unaffiliated with the company or its investors. Private companies are not required to disclose their selection criteria or process, and are not required to satisfy the regulatory requirements for board members set out by public listing exchanges. In this Closer Look, we look at when, why, and how private companies add their first independent, outside director to the board.
We ask:
• Why do pre-IPO companies rely on very different criteria and processes to recruit outside directors than public companies do?
• What does this teach us about governance quality?
• How important are industry knowledge and managerial experience to board oversight?
• How important are independence and monitoring?
• Does a tradeoff exist between engagement and fit on the one hand and independence on the other?
Authored by David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, April 1, 2020, Stanford Closer Look Series
We examine the size, structure, and demographic makeup of the C-suite (the CEO and the direct reports to the CEO) in each of the Fortune 100 companies as of February 2020. We find that women (and, to a lesser extent, racially diverse executives) are underrepresented in C-suite positions that directly feed into future CEO and board roles. What accounts for this distribution?
By John D. Kepler, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, and Daniel J. Taylor, January 28, 2020
Corporate executives receive a considerable portion of their compensation in the form of equity and, from time to time, sell a portion of their holdings in the open market. Executives nearly always have access to nonpublic information about the company, and routinely have an information advantage over public shareholders. Federal securities laws prohibit executives from trading on material nonpublic information about their company, and companies develop an Insider Trading Policy (ITP) to ensure executives comply with applicable rules. In this Closer Look we examine the potential shortcomings of existing governance practices as illustrated by four examples that suggest significant room for improvement.
We ask:
• Should an ITP go beyond legal requirements to minimize the risk of negative public perception from trades that might otherwise appear suspicious?
• Why don’t all companies make the terms of their ITP public?
• Why don’t more companies require the strictest standards, such as pre-approval by the general counsel and mandatory use of 10b5-1 plans?
• Does the board review trades by insiders on a regular basis? What conversation, if any, takes place between executives and the board around large, single-event sales?
Short summary
We identify potential shortcomings in existing governance practices around the approval of executive equity sales. Why don’t more companies require stricter standards to lessen suspicion around insider equity sales activity? Do boards review trades by insiders on a regular basis?
By David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan
Core Concepts Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative,
A roadmap to understanding the fundamental concepts of corporate governance based on theory, empirical research, and data. This guide takes an in-depth look at the Principles of Corporate Governance.
Authors: David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, November 25, 2019
Among the controversies in corporate governance, perhaps none is more heated or widely debated across society than that of CEO pay. The views that American citizens have on CEO pay is centrally important because public opinion influences political decisions that shape tax, economic, and regulatory policy, and ultimately determine the standard of living of average Americans. This Closer Look reviews survey data of the American public to understand their views on compensation. We ask:
• How can society’s understanding of pay and value creation be improved and the controversy over CEO pay resolved?
• How should the level of CEO pay rise with complexity and profitability, particularly among America’s largest corporations?
• Should pay be reformed in the boardroom, or should high pay be addressed solely through the tax code?
• Are negative views of CEO pay driven by broad skepticism and lack of esteem for CEOs? Or do high pay levels themselves contribute to low regard for CEOs?
By David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan
CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance, November 2019.
In fall 2019, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University conducted a nationwide survey of In October 2019, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University conducted a nationwide survey of 3,062 individuals—representative by age, race, political affiliation, household income, and state residence—to understand the American population’s views on current and proposed tax policies.
Key findings include:
--Tax rates for high-income earners are about right
--Majority favor a wealth tax … but not if it harms the economy
--Americans do not want to set limits on personal wealth
--Americans do not believe in a right to universal basic income
--Trust in the ability of the U.S. government to spend tax dollars effectively is low
--Americans believe in higher taxes for corporations who pay their CEO large dollar amounts
--Little appetite exists to break up “big tech”
By David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, Dottie Schindlinger and Anne Kors, CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Diligent Institute, November 2019
New research from the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University and the Diligent Institute finds that corporate directors are not as shareholder-centric as commonly believed and that companies do not put the needs of shareholders significantly above the needs of their employees or society at large. Instead, directors pay considerable attention to important stakeholders—particularly their workforce—and take the interests of these groups into account as part of their long-term business planning.
• While directors are largely satisfied with their ESG-related efforts, they do not believe the outside world understands or appreciates the work they do.
• Directors recognize that tensions exist between shareholder and stakeholder interests. That said,
most believe their companies successfully balance this tension.
• In general, directors reject the view that their companies have a short-term investment horizon in
running their businesses.
In the summer of 2019, the Diligent Institute and the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University surveyed nearly 200 directors of public and private corporations globally to better understand how they balance shareholder and stakeholder needs.
by David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, October 7, 2019
A reliable system of corporate governance is considered to be an important requirement for the long-term success of a company. Unfortunately, after decades of research, we still do not have a clear understanding of the factors that make a governance system effective. Our understanding of governance suffers from 1) a tendency to overgeneralize across companies and 2) a tendency to refer to central concepts without first defining them. In this Closer Look, we examine four central concepts that are widely discussed but poorly understood.
We ask:
• Would the caliber of discussion improve, and consensus on solutions be realized, if the debate on corporate governance were less loosey-goosey?
• Why can we still not answer the question of what makes good governance?
• How can our understanding of board quality improve without betraying the confidential information that a board discusses?
• Why is it difficult to answer the question of how much a CEO should be paid?
• Are U.S. executives really short-term oriented in managing their companies?
David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, Vinay Trivedi, and Owen Wurzbacher, Stanford Closer Look Series, July 2, 2019
Currently, there is much debate about the role that non-investor stakeholder interests play in the governance of public companies. Critics argue that greater attention should be paid to the interest of stakeholders and that by investing in initiatives and programs to promote their interests, companies will create long-term value that is greater, more sustainable, and more equitably shared among investors and society. However, advocacy for a more stakeholder-centric governance model is based on assumptions about managerial behavior that are relatively untested. In this Closer Look, we examine survey data of the CEOs and CFOs of companies in the S&P 1500 Index to understand the extent to which they incorporate stakeholder needs into the business planning and long-term strategy, and their view of the costs and benefits of ESG-related programs.
We ask:
• What are the real costs and benefits of ESG?
• How do companies signal to constituents that they take ESG activities seriously?
• How accurate are the ratings of third-party providers that rate companies on ESG factors?
• Do boards understand the short- and long-term impact of ESG activities?
• Do boards believe this investment is beneficial for the company?
By David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, Vinay Trivedi and Owen Wurzbacher, CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance, July 2019
In spring 2019, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University surveyed 209 CEOs and CFOs of companies included in the S&P 1500 Index to understand the role that stakeholder interests play in long-term corporate planning.
Key Findings
• CEOs Are Divided On Whether Stakeholder Initiatives Are A Cost or Benefit to the Company
• Companies Tout Their Efforts But Believe the Public Doesn’t Understand Them
• Blackrock Advocates … But Has Little Impact
By David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan
Core Concepts Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, June 2019
A roadmap to understanding the fundamental concepts of corporate governance based on theory, empirical research, and data. This guide will take an in-depth look at Shareholders and Activism.
By Brandon Boze, Margarita Krivitski, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, and Eva Zlotnicka
Stanford Closer Look Series
May 23, 2019
Recently, there has been debate among corporate managers, board of directors, and institutional investors around how best to incorporate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors into strategic and investment decision-making processes. In this Closer Look, we examine a framework informed by the experience of ValueAct Capital and include case examples.
We ask:
• What is the investment horizon prevalent among most companies today?
• Do companies miss long-term opportunities because of a focus on short-term costs?
• How many companies have an opportunity to profitably invest in ESG solutions?
• What factors determine whether a company can profitably invest in ESG solutions?
• Can investors earn competitive risk-adjusted returns through ESG investments?
• If so, how widespread is this opportunity?
This Research Spotlight provides a summary of the academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities including:
• The relation between ESG activities and firm value
• The impact of environmental and social engagements on firm performance
• The market reaction to ESG events
• The relation between ESG and agency problems
• The performance of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds
This Research Spotlight expands upon issues introduced in the Quick Guide “Investors and Activism”.
This Research Spotlight provides a summary of the academic literature on how dual-class share structures influence firm value and corporate governance quality. It reviews the evidence of:
• The relation between dual-class shares and governance quality
• The relation between dual-class shares and tax avoidance
• The relation between dual-class shares and firm value and performance
This Research Spotlight expands upon issues introduced in the Quick Guide “The Market for Corporate Control.”
By Courtney Hamilton, David F. Larcker, Stephen A. Miles, and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, February 15, 2019
Two decades ago, McKinsey advanced the idea that large U.S. companies are engaged in a “war for talent” and that to remain competitive they need to make a strategic effort to attract, retain, and develop the highest-performing executives. To understand the contribution of the human resources department to company strategy, we surveyed 85 CEOs and chief human resources officers at Fortune 1000 companies. In this Closer Look, we examine what these senior executives say about the contribution of HR to the strategic efforts and financial performance of their companies.
We ask:
• What role does HR play in the development of corporate strategy?
• Does HR have an equal voice or is it junior to other members of the senior management team?
• Do boards see HR and human capital as critical to corporate performance?
• How do boards ascertain whether management has the right HR strategy?
• How adept are companies at using data from HR systems to learn what programs work and why?
By David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, December 3, 2018
Companies are required to have a reliable system of corporate governance in place at the time of IPO in order to protect the interests of public company investors and stakeholders. Yet, relatively little is known about the process by which they implement one. This Closer Look, based on detailed data from a sample of pre-IPO companies, examines the process by which companies go from essentially having no governance in place at the time of their founding to the fully established systems of governance required of public companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission. We examine the vastly different choices that companies make in deciding when and how to implement these standards.
We ask:
• What factors do CEOs and founders take into account in determining how to implement governance systems?
• Should regulators allow companies greater flexibility to tailor their governance systems to their specific needs?
• Which elements of governance add to business performance and which are done only for regulatory purposes?
• How much value does good governance add to a company’s overall valuation?
• When should small or medium sized companies that intend to remain private implement a governance system?
By David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance, November 2018
In summer and fall 2018, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University surveyed 53 founders and CEOs of 47 companies that completed an Initial Public Offering in the U.S. between 2010 and 2018 to understand how corporate governance practices evolve from startup through IPO.
David F. Larcker, Stephen A. Miles, Brian Tayan, and Kim Wright-Violich
Stanford Closer Look Series, November 8, 2018
CEO activism—the practice of CEOs taking public positions on environmental, social, and political issues not directly related to their business—has become a hotly debated topic in corporate governance. To better understand the implications of CEO activism, we examine its prevalence, the range of advocacy positions taken by CEOs, and the public’s reaction to activism.
We ask:
• How widespread is CEO activism?
• How well do boards understand the advocacy positions of their CEOs?
• Are boards involved in decisions to take public stances on controversial issues, or do they leave these to the discretion of the CEO?
• How should boards measure the costs and benefits of CEO activism?
• How accurately can internal and external constituents distinguish between positions taken proactively and reactively by a CEO?
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Cracking the Workplace Discipline Code Main.pptxWorkforce Group
Cultivating and maintaining discipline within teams is a critical differentiator for successful organisations.
Forward-thinking leaders and business managers understand the impact that discipline has on organisational success. A disciplined workforce operates with clarity, focus, and a shared understanding of expectations, ultimately driving better results, optimising productivity, and facilitating seamless collaboration.
Although discipline is not a one-size-fits-all approach, it can help create a work environment that encourages personal growth and accountability rather than solely relying on punitive measures.
In this deck, you will learn the significance of workplace discipline for organisational success. You’ll also learn
• Four (4) workplace discipline methods you should consider
• The best and most practical approach to implementing workplace discipline.
• Three (3) key tips to maintain a disciplined workplace.
[Note: This is a partial preview. To download this presentation, visit:
https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations]
Sustainability has become an increasingly critical topic as the world recognizes the need to protect our planet and its resources for future generations. Sustainability means meeting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It involves long-term planning and consideration of the consequences of our actions. The goal is to create strategies that ensure the long-term viability of People, Planet, and Profit.
Leading companies such as Nike, Toyota, and Siemens are prioritizing sustainable innovation in their business models, setting an example for others to follow. In this Sustainability training presentation, you will learn key concepts, principles, and practices of sustainability applicable across industries. This training aims to create awareness and educate employees, senior executives, consultants, and other key stakeholders, including investors, policymakers, and supply chain partners, on the importance and implementation of sustainability.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts that form the foundation of sustainability within corporate environments.
2. Explore the sustainability implementation model, focusing on effective measures and reporting strategies to track and communicate sustainability efforts.
3. Identify and define best practices and critical success factors essential for achieving sustainability goals within organizations.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and Key Concepts of Sustainability
2. Principles and Practices of Sustainability
3. Measures and Reporting in Sustainability
4. Sustainability Implementation & Best Practices
To download the complete presentation, visit: https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations
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Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Implicitly or explicitly all competing businesses employ a strategy to select a mix
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Building a Better Board Book
1. Stanford Closer LOOK series
Stanford Closer LOOK series 1
By Alex Baum, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, and jacob welch
october 9, 2017
building a better board book
introduction
Board members rely on information provided by management to
inform their decisions on strategy, capital allocation, performance
measurement, and risk management.1
Unfortunately, some
research calls into question the adequacy of the information board
members receive and, by extension, the quality of decisions they
are able to make. For example, a two-part study by Deloitte finds
that the vast majority of boards do not receive information on the
critical metrics (key performance indicators, or KPIs) that have a
demonstrated link to the future performance of the business. The
report finds that board presentations overemphasize standard
financial metrics (such as revenue growth, margins, and cash
flow) and underemphasize the detailed financial and nonfinancial
metrics that provide deeper insight into the fundamental health of
the business.2
As a result, it is time to reconsider the construction
and composition of board books.
Board Books Today
The materials provided by management to the board in advance
of board meetings (“board books”) today suffer from three
overarching problems. First, they prioritize the director’s duty to
oversee financial reporting above the need to truly understand the
economic drivers of business performance. Because a company’s
public financial statements are reviewed by the board prior to
their release, the data in board books generally tend to be hung on
the framework of external reporting.3
However, it is not clear that
data presented solely under this framework are what managers
and board members actually need to make optimal strategic
decisions for new and ongoing activities.
Second, board books tend to have an abundance of information
but a dearth of metrics that lead to true insight. A typical board
book can run up to 200 or 300 pages. It often contains detailed
results by product, division, etc., but these results are commonly
not presented with sufficient detail to explain trends or put
directors in a position to properly assess the situation and make
decisions.
Third, the structure of board presentations becomes formulaic
over time. Once a general template is established, it is very hard
to make substantive changes. Board presentations tend to include
an updated version of the same slides that were presented in
previous meetings. If a board member asks a specific question
requiring a new slide, that information is added in subsequent
meetings and many times remains in future meetings even when
it is no longer relevant. As a result, board books do not change
with the marketplace, preventing directors from understanding
how the industry—and therefore their corporation’s strategy and
investments—needs to evolve.
How to Make Board Books Better
ValueAct Capital has identified six common and serious pitfalls
that plague corporate board books and provides recommendations
for remedying them.4
These pitfalls include the following:
Data lacks important context. Board books spend an
inordinate amount of time bridging performance to plan.
However, in doing so, they leave out important contextual
information, such as absolute performance, historical trends,
and performance relative to market. Sales growth above budget
is less impressive if it coincides with a loss of market share or a
reduction in the company’s long-term rate of growth. A company’s
reported results should be reviewed alongside relevant financial
metrics from competitors or customers to facilitate discussion
and decision making. Too often strategic planning is reserved for
dedicated, one-off planning days when it should instead be an
ongoing part of the regular business review (see Exhibit 1).
Data focuses on results (outputs) rather than drivers (inputs).
For example, a company might report historical and projected
trends for customer subscription counts without providing
a breakdown of how the product mix has changed across its
customer base over time. Breaking down the installed base to
show how many customers are subscribed to older versus newer
products helps directors understand the size of the company’s
future opportunity. It also allows the board to reorient the
2. Building a Better Board Book
2Stanford Closer LOOK series
discussion around a review of the drivers of success rather than
a rearview-mirror discussion of recent historical trends. Board
books should regularly include metrics that have a clearly related
impact to the long-term performance of the company, and the
linkages to performance should be well understood and reviewed
often (see Exhibit 2).
Data does not inform organic (P&L) investment decisions.
Boardsreviewanexhaustiveamountofinformationbeforemaking
an external acquisition, but spend significantly less attention
reviewing large ongoing expenditures that drive organic growth.
For example, a board might review the relation between product
sales and promotional expenditures, but they do not receive the
detailed information to understand how current expenditures
drive future cash flow. Including return metrics provides a
more complete view of product economics and allows for more
informed decision making about organic investment. The same
lesson applies to all expenditures that drive profitability, such as
research and development, advertising budgets, and salesforce
headcount. These expenditures should be explicitly tied to future
changes in revenue and profit so that the board understands what
level of organic investment is required to achieve long-term goals
(see Exhibit 3).5
Accounting allocations obscure true economics. When
analyzing the profitability of various product lines, management
must make judgments, such as the allocation of shared overhead.
In many cases, these allocations are driven by external reporting
requirements, which may or may not reflect the true economics
of the business. Incorrect or incomplete allocation of corporate
overhead costs can severely distort the underlying profitability of
a business line. “True” (or more appropriate) allocation of expenses
often reveals that a business is significantly more or less profitable
than perceived based on GAAP allocations. The establishment
and tracking of accurate profit and loss statements at product,
business, or geographic level can help boards understand how
their companies derive cash and improve strategic decision
making (see Exhibit 4).
Data does not match a manager’s sphere of responsibility.
For example, a company might report sales figures by product line
when accountability for that product line is shared among multiple
managers across geographies. To improve accountability, results
should be presented to coincide with the sphere of responsibility
of individual managers. Supplementing revenue information with
cost data (cost of goods sold; sales, general, and administrative;
and other relevant costs), further increases accountability by
providing a profit and loss statement associated with each manager
and allows for better performance measurement in computing
managerial bonuses (see Exhibit 5).
Unexplained outperformance is insufficiently investigated.
Boards spend insufficient time exploring the factors that led to
significant outperformance in a given period—in particular,
questioning whether those factors are sustainable or will
instead create a headwind in future years. Revenue or volume
outperformance driven by one-time price promotions, product
end-of-life, or competitor disruptions are not sustainable forms
of growth and, if not acknowledged and understood, will lead
to future disappointment and loss of credibility with external
investors. A driver-based view of performance will expose the
true causes of outperformance, either positive or negative (see
Exhibit 6).
Substantivechangestothestructureandcontentofacompany’s
board book not only impact the board’s and management’s
strategic decision making and execution but can also be relevant to
the design of executive compensation. For example, one company
that reconstructed its board book gained new insights into the
profitability of its businesses. This led to the formulation of a
new driver-based long-range plan, with key metrics tracked at the
board level. To encourage management performance, the board
devised an executive compensation plan that tied a significant
portion of long-term stock awards to these same key metrics.
Previously, the company had relied predominantly on time-vested
stock awards with no performance features.
As a first step in thinking about board books, it is important to
ensure that:
• Analyses reflect true economic realities and are not unduly
constrained by accounting conventions.
• Metrics presented to the board match the way management
actually runs the business.
• Performance measures are distilled to drivers rather than just
results or outcomes.
• Data are presented with appropriate context, such as historical
trends, customer behavior, and external benchmarking.
• Analyses focus on emphasizing long-term plans rather than
annual budget allocations.
• Performance statements align with spheres of responsibility so
that individual managers can be held accountable for results.
Finally, it is also important to recognize that improvements
made to board books should be an ongoing process, and not done
periodically every five to ten years.