CGRI research spans these topics: general principles, board of directors, leadership and succession planning, compensation, audit and risk, shareholders, and proxy advisory.
Chairman and CEO: The Controversy Over Board Leadership Structure
One of the most controversial issues in corporate governance is whether the CEO of a corporation should also serve as chairman of the board. In…
Scoundrels in the C-Suite: How Should the Board Respond When a CEO’s Bad Behavior Makes the News?
The board of directors has a responsibility to investigate credible allegations that management has engaged in activity that is not in the…
Governance Aches and Pains: Is Bad Governance Chronic?
Institutional investors pay considerable attention to the quality of a company’s governance. Unfortunately, it is difficult for outside observers…
CEO Pay at Valeant: Does Extreme Compensation Create Extreme Risk?
The litmus test for an effective compensation program is whether it provides “pay for performance.” While the concept of pay for performance is…
How Important Is Culture? A Second Look at Keller Williams Realty
Keller Williams is one of the most successful real estate franchises in the world. The leaders of the company attribute its growth in large part…
CEO Pay, Performance, and Value Sharing
CEO compensation is a highly controversial subject. While most company directors believe that CEO pay is not a problem, the majority of the…
Seven Myths of Boards of Directors
Corporate governance experts pay considerable attention to issues involving the board of directors. Because of the scope of the board’s role and…
Trust and Consequences: A Survey of Berkshire Hathaway Operating Managers
For much of its history, Berkshire Hathaway has been regarded primarily as the investment vehicle of Warren Buffett rather than a bona fide…
Pro Forma Compensation: Useful Insight or Window Dressing?
In recent years, companies have begun to voluntarily disclose alternative measures of CEO compensation. These figures differ — sometimes…
How Important Is Culture?: An Inside Look at Keller Williams Realty
Corporate leaders pay considerable attention to the strategy and finances of their organizations but often less attention to organizational…
What Can For-Profit and Nonprofit Boards Learn from Each Other About Improving Governance?
For-profit and nonprofit organizations exist for different reasons: for-profits to generate a return on investment for shareholders, and…
The Ideal Proxy Statement
Institutional investors are highly dissatisfied with the quality of information that they receive about corporate governance policies and…
A Meeting of the Minds: How Do Companies Distribute Knowledge and Workload Across Board Committees?
Corporate governance experts pay considerable attention to the composition of the full board of directors. And yet, much of the substantive work…
The Handpicked CEO Successor
The shareholders of public corporations have considerable interest in the choice of individual to serve as CEO of their company. They want to be…
Follow the Money: Compensation, Risk, and the Financial Crisis
This Closer Look illustrates the relation between executive compensation and organizational risk through the context of the financial crisis of…
Does the Composition of a Company’s Shareholder Base Really Matter?
Corporations dedicate significant time to managing their shareholder base. Does the composition of a company’s shareholder base really impact…
Lululemon: A Sheer Debacle in Risk Management
In March 2013, LululemonAthletica removed its inventory of women’s black yoga pants from its stores because…
Josh Hardy and the #SaveJosh Army: How Corporate Risk Escalates and Accelerates through Social Media
On March 5, biotechnology company Chimerix refused to provide a potentially life-saving drug to 7-year old Josh Hardy who was…
Corporate Governance According to Charles T. Munger
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger is well known as the partner of CEO Warren Buffett and also for his advocacy of “multi-…
Seven Myths of CEO Succession
Many believe that the selection of the CEO is the most important decision that a board can make. Why aren’t more companies prepared for a change…
Separation Anxiety: The Impact of CEO Divorce on Shareholders
There are at least three potential ways in which a CEO divorce might impact a corporation and its shareholders:
- It might reduce the…
Sneak Preview: How ISS Dictates Equity Plan Design
Proxy advisory firms have long been known to influence the voting decisions of institutional investors. Now, a growing body of evidence suggests…
Pioneering Women on Boards: Pathways of the First Female Directors
We examine the biographies and professional experiences of the female directors of Fortune 250 companies. How have pathways for women changed? Are…
Trust: The Unwritten Contract in Corporate Governance
High-trust organizations are characterized by lower bureaucracy, simpler procedures, and higher productivity. Would shareholders be better off if…