for existing directors and aspiring board members
ACG are pleased to offer new corporate governance training for board members, starting with a series of booklets designed to give existing directors and aspiring board members an easily digestible guide (or a refresher) to the principles and practice of good corporate governance in 2020 and beyond.
Based on almost 30 years of corporate governance training, publishing and consulting and the author’s career working with – and on – the boards of companies from the FTSE 100 to startups, the series explores the background, the need for and the persistent failings in corporate governance and regulation and, more importantly, sets out our practical approach, which we call Applied Corporate Governance, to install reliable governance systems and procedures and so ensure performance and sustainability.
Beyond Compliance ebook Series
The holistic way to good corporate governance
As we have proven repeatedly throughout the site, a reliance on compliance has not only failed to prevent corporate failure it has led to the discrediting of the audit profession that ticks the boxes. For over two decades we have been championing a holistic approach to corporate governance that seeks to address the root causes of failure and help directors really understand what is happening in the business.
While the most effective way of delivering corporate governance training for board members is clearly in person, with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis this is currently not an option. So we have condensed our experience into this series of booklets which you can either purchase separately, depending on your specific needs and interests, or buy/subscribe to the whole series. The subscription option includes future editions of our case studies ebooks, collections of case studies on individual organisations, grouped by theme (our Golden Rules).
Booklet 1: What is Corporate Governance?
If you are new to corporate governance or need a refresher, the first ebook is available to purchase now. It is designed to take readers through the background to the Corporate Governance story and explain why it is regarded as important by both the public and politicians. It also sets out the rules and regulations which have been introduced to formalise codes of corporate governance. And it shows how successive attempts to improve corporate behaviour by introducing new regulations have consistently failed to prevent the next scandals, and are always playing catch-up.
Booklet 2: The Board, the Chair and Stewardship
The second Booklet addresses the statutory duties of the Board of Directors and the Chair, and the effective running of boards and board meetings. It also addresses the issues they are currently facing in a changing world. Since the Board of Directors is responsible for the proper running of any kind of company, it considers the different responsibilities they may face in regard to their shareholders exercising stewardship and when they are in that role themselves. Hence, it also addresses current developments in relation to stakeholders and their rights, and to the progressive global adoption of ESG.
Booklet 3: The Holistic Approach
In this booklet, we summarise the failings of the existing compliance-driven approach to corporate governance and describe our holistic approach. It is now beyond contention that the era of shareholder primacy is over, and company law and listing regulations now require businesses to look to the interests of key groups of participants beyond shareholders. The most important are clearly the customers, the employees and the owners, but the public interest, generally, is now in the frame as regulators and investing institutions concern themselves with companies’ ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) performance and sustainability.
Booklet 4: Directors’ tools · Purpose, Strategy, Organisation and Risk
This fourth booklet outlines some of the most important management techniques with which all directors should be familiar. These relate to the agreement on a company’s purpose, or goal, the setting of a strategy to achieve that goal, structuring and resourcing the organisation to deliver the strategy, and dealing with risk.
Booklets 5-6: Board Failings in Corporate Governance
In these two booklets, we bring together examples of where good board practice was inadequately heeded or ignored. These mini case studies are organised into five groups, corresponding with our Five Golden Rules of Good Corporate Governance and show how these rules were broken.
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