BOARDS AT WORK

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Behind closed doors, in corporate boardrooms across America, a quiet revolution is taking place. Boards of directors — long an unrealized source of competitive advantage — are transcending their traditional roles to proactively influence the future direction of their companies. And in this timely new work, acclaimed consultant Ram Charan shares an intriguing, first-hand account of how a small but growing number of exceptional boards are changing the face of corporate governance. He also shows how CEOs can tap the vast reserve of experience and wisdom a board's membership represents.

With an insider's unique perspective, Charan relates the groundbreaking activities undertaken by the boards of Citicorp, GE, Warner-Lambert, TRW, KeraVision, the Royal Bank of Canada, and other major corporations. His keen observations are further informed by the twenty-five years of behind-the-scenes research he has conducted as a consultant to some of the nation's top organizations and business leaders. What he offers is new insight into the importance of board dynamics and specific, unprecedented guidance companies can use to develop their own boards as invaluable competitive assets.

Illustrating each concept with actual case studies, Charan explains how to make open, critical dialogue part of everyday board deliberations. He explores the active board's ideal relationship with shareholders and the CEO. He provides the answers to a wide range of specific questions about board structure, information needs, continuous improvement processes, and other critical issues. And he shows how the board should go about coaching a CEO and ensuring that the organization builds leadership depth.

Overall, Boards at Work presents a host of best practices for tapping the wealth of intellect, judgment, perspective, and insight that resides in most boards. It details the processes that have worked — and not worked — in actual companies. And it includes numerous field-tested survey instruments so that CEOs, board members, human resource professionals, investors, or anyone interested in transforming their board into a formidable source of competitive advantage can accurately gauge their success.

Reviews

"Ram Charan is a wise counselor and keen observer on the front lines of the American board revolution. Boards at Work is a rare blend of candid stories of casualties, of victories, and of sound ideas for change illustrated with real-world examples of how to adopt them."
—William Adams, retired chairman and president of Armstrong World Industries and former director of Bell Atlantic

"This book describes the new roles the board, the CEO, and the senior human resources executive play at companies including GE. It gives specific recommendations for linking succession to leadership development company-wide and is rich with insight and practical advice that only an insider could provide."
—William J. Conaty, senior vice president, Human Resources, General Electric Company

"Boards at Work reveals what is untaught about the contributions a good board can make. Charan's observations get right tot eh heart of how boards and CEOs can interact to increase shareholder value. It's a must read for present and future CEOs and board members, regardless of company size of stage of development."
—Thomas M. Loarie, chairman and CEO, KeraVision

"Ram Charan, more so than anyone else on the globe, has perspectives and understandings of the working of corporate boards that will be helpful to many. His insights and knowledge will prove invaluable to CEOs, board members, and senior executives, as well as to anyone impacted by the decision-making processes of corporate boards."
—Alex Mandl, chairman and CEO, Teligent, and director of Dell Computer and Warner-Lambert

"In this book, Ram Charan confronts the critical issues faced by the boards of directors of publicly traded companies in a way only he can. His valuable views and opinions come from years of consulting with some of America's best-known and most successful chairmen and CEOs, who also share their direct insights on the most controversial of topics. More than a good book on management, this is a reference to be used over and over again."
—Jerome Meyer, chairman and CEO, Tektronix Inc., and director of AMP

"Ram Charan's advice to CEOs and directors is both compelling and practical. Boards at Work will be a long-lasting guide to creating stronger governance and enhancing shareholder value."
—Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., chairman, Directorship Inc., and founder chairman, Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc.

Published by Jossey-Bass
March 1998
hardcover / 304 pages
ISBN: 0787910600