Roundup: Bosses, Boards, and Bandwagons

Bosses in boxes

“The Credit Stealer,” “The Tyrant,” “The Micromanager,” or “The All Purpose A..” - well, the all-around difficult boss. Want to know more about these and other categories of problem bosses, and hear stories of how they got there? Visit here for a new social content site that is bound to become a winner. In addition to comments, posts are also rated from strong agreement to “stop complaining.”

Boards - dynamos or dominoes?

As we know, boards are coming under greater pressure from shareholders, and are becoming more assertive with CEOs, both in the US and Europe. Two recent pieces in the NYT provide examples. One describes the victory of an activist shareholder group in its fight against a restructuring ofÂ its company. Another underscores the increasing willingness of boards to dump underperforming or unresponsive CEOs. Independent, professional boards can relieve much of this pressure - and the problems that give rise to it - by working to properly understand and represent the former, and to supervise and control the latter.

In all fairness, though, consider also this item from the International Herald Tribune, about how Avis has been bought and sold multiple times by predatory investors over the years. The author quotes one analyst as cautioning that if it can’t keep finding new buyers, the company might have to focus on its core business. There’s a dilemma for you. But, again, it is one that boards, ultimately, will have to sort out.

Bandwagons - which way to turn?

From one extreme to the other, of course. This BusinessWeek commentary suggests that we have been in the throws of a new-scientific management craze which has driven us to reduce all business analysis and operations to the manipulation of data. The author’s considered remedy? Return to a greater reliance on the “gut instinct” of the CEO.

Finally, take a look at this WSJ piece from earlier this week that reports the results of a study of corporate tuition assistance programs. Some advisors discourage such benefits, fearing that they simply encourage beneficiaries to cut and run for better-paying jobs once the courses are paid for. It turns out, though, as many of us suspected, that these programs increase loyalty; employees who use such programs are only about half as likely to leave a firm after 5 years as those who do not use them. This is a sort of “Karma Capitalism” that really does return to benefit you.

—

Remember - you can subscribe to these posts by email or RSS feeder. Visit the subscription area at the top of the sidebar on the right, and be sure not to miss a post!

—

Technorati Tags: Bosses, Boards, CEOs, management, Shareholders, Corporate Governance