Corporate governance

Eliminating algorithmic bias can unlock value for your company.

Managers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks.

There are plenty of reasons to be disappointed with the Copenhagen climate talks that start today: the meeting will not result in a binding agreement, the timeframe for such an agreement is potentially years away, and of course, neither the US nor China has committed to binding reductions. While all this is certainly disappointing, the […]

Impact investing--directing capital to ventures that are expected to yield social and environmental benefits as well as profits--provides investors with...

As the parents of two children with Down syndrome, the authors learned that 80% of people with disabilities in the United States are unemployed. They...

...

Leadership transitions go awry with alarming frequency, often the result of an emotionally charged power struggle between the CEO and his would-be heir. Four practices, however, can help successors defuse the crisis—and make it to the top.

The problems with the company are ingrained in its business model.

General Electric paid no taxes in 2010. Or at least that was the major takeaway from a recent bomb-dropping exposé in the New York Times. At a time of...

According to conversations with 25 directors.

A better approach to stakeholder management

The last official report on the April 2010 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig was issued on September 16th. And yet the ultimate question remains:...

Most organizations aren’t prepared.

On December 9, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wealthy investor Warren Buffet in signing the Gates-Buffet Giving...

After working at his family's coat manufacturing company for a few years, the author realized that high-end coats made in Canada could become a luxury...

On Friday, the New York Times breathlessly declared in a cover story that during the recession, "As Consumers Cut Spending, 'Green' Products Lose Allure."...

Last year we heard a chorus of “water is the new oil,” including a memorable BusinessWeek cover depicting oil baron T. Boone Pickens knee-deep in H20. This year the cry is “water is the new carbon” in response to a heightened awareness that resources such as water are more critical and valuable to a company’s […]

Owners need to get their house in order first.

When a crisis forces outside directors to navigate major changes, investors and directors must adopt new roles. The largest such case to date provides some useful lessons. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group was a 60/40 joint venture between Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading. It was run by a five-person committee of managing directors […]

It’s always fun to predict what’s going to happen. The risk of being spectacularly wrong is very high, but that’s what makes the exercise so entertaining. ‘Tis the season for dwelling, quickly, on what we’ve learned this year — de-leveraging is really painful and when gas prices are high, people want smaller cars — and […]