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Recent articles reported by our team on important business-news developments.
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Briefings for the Boardroom
A new survey shows that a record-high 55% of board directors would like to replace at least one member. So why don’t they?
New data shows that boards don’t meet significantly more often today than they did a decade ago. Should they?
As boards strategize about how their firms should use AI, they’re also experimenting with it themselves. But not without complications.
Nearly 60% of new director appointments this year are retired executives, a reversal of recent history. Why are firms swinging away from actively employed directors?
As boards jump into ongoing conversations about tariffs, the key issue is how best to handle risk management.
Shareholders are expected to press boards on everything from tariffs to AI, and then some. Why experts say this proxy season feels more tense than in years past.
Activists won more than 50 board seats globally in Q1, nearly half the total for all of last year. What topics may become hot buttons this proxy season.
A new Korn Ferry study finds successful chairs are great coaches, curious, and continually learning. Here’s what they told us.
As activist campaigns reach record levels, boards are taking a bigger role in trying to head them off early. Does it work?
CEOs are being criticized more often, and more openly, by their employees than ever before. Why that worries boards.
Revenue growth at big firms has dropped by almost half in the past five years, and most CEOs seem baffled. Can boards help leaders think differently about growth?
As AI moves out of the gestation phase, CEOs are facing increasing pressure to figure out what’s next. Can boards help them avoid the all-or-nothing tendency?
Firms citing AI-related risks to business in annual reports increased a whopping 474% this year. How much should boards be concerned?
Companies are holding a record $3.8 trillion in cash. Why directors need to start pressing leaders on how they plan to spend it.
Half of newly appointed directors are now working—not retired—executives. What’s driving the change?
November’s results will swing business policy in one of two vastly different directions. How should boards be preparing for different scenarios?
Underscoring the demands on leaders of an increasing complex and stressful business environment, last year more CEOs died in office than in any year since 2010—and the number leaving for “personal reasons” doubled.
More than one-third of board directors have raised issues about the quality—and quantity—of pre-meeting materials. Is it time for firms to make them more snackable and digestible?
A new Korn Ferry report finds that more boards are disclosing information about the annual evaluation process. But fewer of them are conducting individual director assessments.
In a dramatic reversal from the past few years, concern over supply-chain disruption has waned among boards. What does that mean for the function’s leaders?
Boards are increasingly having to deal with sudden departures of executive leaders, prompting a rethink on how to prepare for the unexpected.
One-third of CEOs are now leaving their posts within three years, a new Korn Ferry study finds. Would better succession planning help retain them?
Boards have been tweaking the pay for committees and their members in order to better reflect the differing levels of their contributions. But does that send the wrong signal?
In an interview with Korn Ferry, Bender talks about how boards are thinking about generative AI, succession planning, and why even directors need mentors.
A remarkable nine out of ten executives, and nearly 50% of directors, think at least one board member should be replaced.
As ransomware attacks grow and firms are forced to pay off hackers, more boards are being left out of the equation.
The transformative potential of AI is creating a tighter level of collaboration and trust between boards and leaders “as they try to get their arms around” the technology.
After mostly rising in recent years, CEO pay has leveled off, recent filings show. Why boards’ moods have shifted in this much-watched arena.
A new study shows that directors with different political views than incoming CEOs are more likely to leave the board. Will the upcoming US presidential election create only more strains?
A new Korn Ferry study finds boards are dedicated to ESG initiatives—but prefer to call them something else.
As skill sets and time commitments grow for board leads, directors are debating whether pay should increase too. Is the added scrutiny caused by such increases worth it?
Investors can now cherry-pick directors from competing slates in proxy contests. Who will activists try to remove?
Boards are stepping up efforts to hasten director turnover and make room for the “next generation of directors.” The pros and cons of the new direction.
The role of the compensation committee is changing dramatically, creating a new level of accountability. But will some new duties become overwhelming?
A new Korn Ferry study shows more boards are doing independent evaluations. But fewer than a quarter of them are disclosing any changes made.
A new SEC plan that would greatly expand mandatory climate-related disclosures could also shift the makeup and responsibilities of boards. Will it usher in a new breed of ESG director?
As the market has tanked, so have stock options for many top executives. Will retention become an issue for boards to consider?
A new Korn Ferry study of the 100 largest publicly traded REITs shows how far their boards’ efforts to increase diversity have come —and how far they still have to go.
As the business environment becomes more complex, organizations are increasingly turning to advisory boards to help sort out the issues.
For the first time since the Cold War, directors everywhere in nearly every business are faced with a geopolitical crisis impacting their companies.
A legal challenge to Nasdaq’s new board-diversity rules suggests directors still aren’t comfortable with transparency.
As the well-documented problem persists, experts say boards may need to step in to help management.
As more companies pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, boards face the difficult task of helping leaders balance social-impact goals and financial interests.
