Conferences - Peter Crow | Helping boards govern with impact

Published on: 27 March 2016

Change is in the air: Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity?

What is it with the equinox? In the six days that have passed since the equinox announced the changing of the seasons, my phone and email box have been running hot. A stream of enquiries and requests from business leaders in Australasia, the UK, Western Europe, South-east Asia and the Middle East have arrived. I have been asked to speak at conferences and major events, provide guidance to boards and management groups, discuss the findings from latest research, facilitate strategy workshops, and to lead director development workshops. That some many people have decided to reach out is truly an honour. Thank you.

Several visits to major cities around the world have now been scheduled to fulfil commitments, as follows:

18–21 May
24–31 May
1–3 June
late June
late July
mid September

Brisbane, Australia (keynote speaker at Family Business events)
London, England (plus elsewhere in UK or Western Europe if required)
Paris, France (speaking at EURAM conference)
Sydney and Melbourne, Australia
Singapore and Hong Kong (tbc)
London, England and Berlin, Germany

If you have an interest in corporate governance, strategic management or a related topic and want to take advantage of my proximity(*), please contact me. I would be delighted to hear from you to understand your situation and to arrange to meet you in person or to schedule an event.

(*) If you would like to schedule a meeting or an event but the venues and dates listed do not fit your timetable, please reach out anyway, so that we can discuss an alternate arrangement that does suit your requirements.

Published on: 8 March 2016

Keynote speaker: Governance evolution and future trends

Earlier this year, Lloyd Russell of TCB Solutions and Deb Coren of AMPLIFI Governance contacted me to discuss an event they were planning in their home town of Brisbane, Australia. They wanted me to deliver some talks and share some insights on the evolution of governance—with a specific focus on family-owned businesses. After learning more about their plans I was thrilled to accept the invitation. With that, planning got underway.

Two events have now been scheduled on Thu 19 May, one in the morning and the other in the evening.

If you are a family or private business owner; or an independent director, advisor or partner, then this event may be of interest. Click on the image for more information and to register (a new browser page will open).

Published on: 4 February 2016

That was a close call...

A word of warning for business leaders and academics invited to speak at conferences run by an organisation called WASET (World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology): Give the organisation a wide berth. WASET appears to be a genuine organisation that runs conferences but, if the many comments on the Internet are any guide, the conferences are a front for a scam of some sort.

I nearly got caught out. In early January, I responded to an invitation to submit an abstract for consideration at the 15th International Conference on Corporate Governance in Singapore. (I had been looking for a suitable conference to share an important aspect of my research on corporate governance and strategic management. The conference seemed OK, so submitted a half-page abstract.) A few days later, notice of abstract acceptance arrived, together with a request to submit the full paper for review. All good so far. But then...

Two emails arrived today. One was an invitation to attend the conference. The other was notice that my paper has been accepted onto the programme—despite no paper having been submitted, much less reviewed! This didn't sound right. A quick search revealed many pages of blog posts and comments from people asking if WASET conferences are a scam, whether the conferences are fake, and other similar questions.

The decision to back out came easily. Luckily, no intellectual property or money changed hands.

Published on: 25 November 2015

Effective boardroom practices: Dispatches from Singapore

Nearly fifty chairmen, directors and company secretaries from around South-east Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa gathered at the Ritz–Carlton Millenia Hotel in Singapore this week for The Boardroom Agenda conference. Delegates received presentations, shared stories and debated issues over two days (23–24 November), under the Chatham House rule. I had the honour of contributing to the discussion on the second day. Here are some of the takeouts:

Neal Cross, Managing Director and Chief Innovation Officer at DBS Bank provided a stirring keynote presentation to kick off the day. Disarmingly frank in delivery, his topic Fostering innovation in the boardroom was both challenging and well-received. Cross asserted that banks simply must innovate, and radically so, lest their market collapses around them as fintechs and large technology companies (read: Google, Amazon, Apple, others) eat the bank's lunch. He then outlined the DBS approach to innovation, which includes a three-day 'hackathon', whereby teams of staff are set up to create new product ideas. The resultant ideas are pitched to the board, and funding is provided to commercialise the best ones—entrepreneurship in action.
Raoul Chiesa, Board Member on the Italian Association of Critical Infrastructures delivered a wake-up call to delegates. Speaking straight off a flight from Europe, Chiesa, an expert of information security matters, summarised the history of hacking and the crucial need for boards to take information security seriously—all with some powerful (and quite alarming) case studies and real-world examples. Delegates were amazed at the scale of the problem and the material risk to commerce that 'the bad guys' present. The cyberthreat is widespread and poorly understood, especially in boardrooms. The message was clear: boards need to get up to speed, by receiving presentations and updates from experts; asking probing questions; taking a strategic view of risk; and, empowering the CEO to act.
The pre-lunch session took the form of a panel discussion and dialogue with delegates. I joined Ralph Ward at the front of the room. A wide range of topics were explored including the merit of codes of conduct; diversity in the boardroom; the conundrum of balancing conformance and performance; confidentiality; conflict management; the conduct of effective board evaluations; and, the difference between so-called independent directors and independence of thinking. Delegates seemed to appreciate the candid responses from panelists, including recognition that no one-answer-fits-all; best practice often isn't; and that the work of the board can be messy.
After lunch, delegates attended one of two streams. I chaired the Board Insiders one. Dr Lim Lan Yuan, a Singapore-based business and law scholar and company director spoke first. He managed to squeeze forty years of experience into a thirty-minute talk. It was a sight to behold. Delegates were enthralled with his summary of how boards should work; how they actually work (or don't); the importance of a clear division of responsibility between board work and management activity; the importance of the board undertanding the business of the business, strategy and market trends; boardroom dynamics; and, anecdotes of associates that messed up (badly) and went to jail. That Dr Lim was able to move seamlessly between theoretical concepts, practical recommendations and real-life stories as he spoke helped the delegates gain considerable value from the talk. The only person who struggled with his commentary was me: Dr Lim covered off several of the points that I was going to discuss in the following slot. Consequently, a few on-the-fly adjustments were needed to extend the discussion to related areas of interest (see pic below). That the delegates heard similar stories and recommendations from two different speakers with different cultural and business backgrounds was hopefully encouraging—and supportive of the notion that 'good practice' is good practice almost anywhere.
The final session of the day was a 'deep dive', whereby delegates gathered around one of two tables to consider a table-question and to share experiences. One table was asked to identify factors that contribute to both good and bad dynamics in a boardroom, and the other was asked to discuss how a board should function in the event of a major crisis. The groups had 30 minutes or so to wrestle with the assigned question and then report back. The insights shared were great, and the good-natured banter demonstrated that the delegates had built a good rapport with each other. Thank you to Dr Lim and Curtis Chin who moderated the table discussions. You made my job of session chair very straightforward.
The conference was organised by marcusevans. Their people did a great job, both in the weeks leading up to the conference and at the venue itself. If you get the chance to work with them, take it.

I've come away from the conference with the impression that the quality of corporate governance and board practice in Asian and Middle Eastern economies is rapidly improving. Overall, the hunger to improve board effectiveness was plain to see, as was the desire to learn from those with experience gained elsewhere (if the many conversations, requests to return and business cards in my satchel are any indication). However, care must be taken to ensure that models and frameworks in use in the Anglosphere are not blindly implemented in this region. Such colonialism is unwarranted and patronising, and it may be culturally demeaning as well.

Published on: 18 November 2015

The boardroom agenda: Raising the bar on board effectiveness

I will be in Singapore early next week (23–25 November) for the "The Boardroom Agenda" conference at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia. The attendance list includes senior chairmen, directors, company secretaries and chief executives from across Asia and the Middle East.

The main aim of the conference is to 'raise the bar' on board performance and take the board's effectiveness to greater heights. In addition to five plenary presentations, two parallel streams (Board Insiders and Council, and Board Guardians) of cases studies, mini think-tanks and deep dive sessions are scheduled. The third day is dedicated to an optional masterclass workshop.

My main contributions will be on Day Two. I will be a panelist (The Board Governance Dialogue); delivering a presentation (Responding to the re-emergence of director's duties and liabilities); and, chairing the Board Insiders and Council stream. For more information:

Summaries of important insights will be posted here.

Finally, if you are in Singapore on Mon 23 or Tue 24 and wish to meet privately to discuss other matters of interest, I am available to do so over dinner. Please get in touch if you want to take advantage of this.

Published on: 15 November 2015

ECMLG'15: Performance evaluation systems for corporate directors

Demands on boards to ensure desired company performance outcomes are achieved have led to increased scrutiny of directors and director effectiveness in recent years. Performance evaluation systems (PES) have emerged as a tool of choice to assess director performance. However, the influence of such systems on business performance is largely unknown.

Marie-Josée Roy reported the findings of a recent Canadian study that examined PES closely, in an attempt to bridge the knowledge gap. Roy's survey-based study of 89 large Canadian companies identified three distinct types of PES (exemplar, formal, minimalist—definitions of which were provided in her supporting paper). The typology was based on descriptions provided by survey respondents. Her analysis revealed some interesting correlations, including that boards with an exemplar PES were more likely to be involved in important board roles of strategy and monitoring, and were more likely to be effective in these roles.

While Roy's study was helpful in that it provided empirical evidence on board performance evaluation systems, it did not resolve the crucial question of how, in actuality, an effective PES might work. Survey respondents can (and often do) provide answers of convenience. Sadly, knowledge of whether any PES in use is actually useful (or not) for improving director and board performance remains largely unanswered. Other approaches to research, including longitundinal observations of boards in action and (probably) pyschological assessments are likely to be required if tangible progress is to be made. Even then, another even more vexing question—of whether improved board effectiveness leads to improved company performance—lies in wait.

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