Corporate Boards Create Value by Carver, Caroline Oliver, Adrian Cadbury

Synopsis

Outlining an operating system for policy governance, this book specifies the roles of the board, the chair, and the CEO. It also redefines and reevaluates the value that boards add, detail processes of accountability, and relates sound policy to issues of good leadership. The authors are consultants. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

Here's a timely thought: corporate boards should govern their organizations, rather than simply condoning the antics of aggressive CEOs. While most corporate boards offer their company little more than a group designed to hire and support the CEO, Carver and Oliver outline a broader set of duties for a responsible, more effective board, including the practice of setting management expectations and evaluating performance. The essence of this book is contained in the case the authors make for a chief government officer to replace the traditional chairman position. The point is to create board leadership that lives much closer to the organization's management. Thus, instead of a gap between the CEO and the chairman, there would now be an overlap, which would give the board more governing relevance. Light reading this isn't, but for those serious about changing corporate governance (and who isn't after Enron?), this is an excellent resource. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Biography

John Carver is internationally known as creator of the breakthrough in board leadership called the Policy Governance model. He has worked with boards in the United States and Canada and on four other continents for over twenty years. Carver is the author of the books John Carver on Board Leadership (2001), Boards That Make a Difference, Second Edition (1997), and coauthor of Reinventing Your Board (1997), and A New Vision of Board Leadership (1994). He is also the author of the bimonthly newsletter workshop Board Leadership, the video John Carver on Board Governance (1993), the audiotape Empowering Boards for Leadership (1992), and coauthor of the CarverGuide Series on Effective Board Governance.

Caroline Oliver is the general editor of The Policy Governance Fieldbook (1999) and a founder and current chair of the International Policy Governance Association. Oliver has worked with boards in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. and writes, speaks, and consults on governance across all sectors.