“Excessive, shameful, soaring…” these are just some of the words used by the media when discussing executive compensation. Over the past two decades in particular, CEO compensation has increased exponentially, with many organizations drawing criticism for it. Though a 2013 article in The Wall Street Journal suggests that compensation seems to be somewhat levelled now, […]
Read More… from Smoke But No Fire: How Employees View CEO Pay
In 2010, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) changed its reporting requirements, calling for listed companies to detail their progress against voluntary gender diversity targets. This move on the part of the ASX is demonstrative of the increased global awareness of utilizing female employees, and how costly it can be for nations as well as organizations […]
Discussing her return to PwC as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2012, Carol Sawdye said she would be spending much of her first year on the job focused on “change management.” In saying so, Sawdye acknowledged that the role of a CFO has now transformed; they need to assume bigger responsibilities and play a crucial […]
Read More… from CFOs Reborn as Agents of Organizational Change
Only a small number of psychopaths become violent criminals. Others lead outwardly normal lives and appear integrated into society. Strongly attracted to money and power, these ‘psychopaths lite’ often seek careers in finance and business. (According to some estimates, approximately 3.9 per cent of corporate professionals have psychopathic tendencies, against approximately one percent of the […]
Read More… from Psychopaths in the C-Suite: How to Avoid Them
Responsible leadership is a concept that can help link corporate social responsibility (CSR) and performance to actions on the part of policy makers and leaders. In a world where public trust in leaders is low and reputations of firms are often called into question, RL can help bridge the gap between that negative perception and […]
Read More… from The Four Orientations of Responsible Leaders
In April 2010, an explosion on an oil rig connected to BP in the Gulf of Mexico threatened the fate of the company forever. The disaster resulted in the death of 11 workers, and approximately five million barrels of crude oil ended up being discharged into the ocean by the time the well was finally […]
Read More… from Ethical Leadership in a Crisis (and to Avoid Crises)
Recently, faculty from Kenan-Flagler Business School and Robert H. Smith School of Business looked at the relationship between egotistic (or narcissistic) CEOs and firm performance by measuring ego by the size of signatures on yearly SEC filings. They looked at about 400 CEO signatures from the annual SEC filings from companies in the S&P 500, […]
Read More… from Narcissistic CEOs – A Signature for Poor Performance
Rational and objective thinking is not the only influence on the decision-making process. Recognising this, the authors set out to research why good leaders often make flawed decisions, at times dragging their organizations down. According to them, finance managers play an important role, being “savvier” at managing rational thinking and the inevitable personal biases of […]
Read More… from Avoiding Flawed Decisions: A Finance Manager’s Role
In high-growth companies, it is a fact that periods of expansion are often punctuated by sudden and severe challenges. Noting the extreme tension between success and failure in businesses today, the authors set out to research how “the dark side” of growth can be managed appropriately. They describe this as the often sour situation that […]
Decision-making is at the heart of all leadership. Sometimes leaders make good decisions, but sometimes they make less good decisions. The authors set out to understand why bad decisions are made, and what causes them. They propose that in certain situations, the brain processes that normally get us to good decisions, lead us instead to […]
Read More… from Avoiding Bad Decisions: ‘Red Flags’ and Reflection
