With the revelation of each new failure caused by
"strategic short-sightedness," as illustrated by the recent
Kodak, HP, RIM and Blockbuster failures, companies must
rethink their governance systems and in particular the role
of the board of directors.
As women flooded the "Women on Boards Bootcamp" sessions at
the Women's Forum which took place in Deauville this week, I
could not help but reflect that the pool of women candidates
willing to sit on boards was indeed rich, diverse, and
experienced."Because I dare" could best summarize the
discussions - and the general mood: women need to take a
much more aggressive approach if they want to set foot in
the boardroom. They need to gain self confidence to seek out
those board positions, leverage their relevant experiences
in governance, and stop to be simply waiting for the
opportunities to be presented to them.
In 2009, the Deloitte Ethics and Workplace Survey explored
attitudes about social networking and pointed out the
significance of social media for board of directors.* 58
percent of executives felt that the reputational risk
associated with social networking should be a board room
issue*. Yet, only 17 percent of executives said that they
currently had programs in place to monitor and mitigate
reputational risks that may arise with social network usage.
Boards have since largely left it to management to figure
out its social media strategy. When informally asked in a
boardroom, Competia found that *less than 5% of directors*
admit having ever used and participated in social media.
Mistrust is widespread and the issue of privacy is of utmost
concern. The implications of social media for the board far
outreach reputation risk. As the use of social media is
rapidly spreading and challenging every single company
business model and strategy, it is time for directors to
understand the implications for corporate governance.
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