I recently did a review of studies published between 2008 and 2018 that explored independent directors who sit on the boards of for-profit corporations. I am going to discuss what I learned from these studies and highlight three key takeaways on director independence. What is an independent director? An independent director is “free from conflicts …
I am discovering the work of Iris Marion Young, a philosopher and political scientist who wrote much about justice. I find her work relevant to think about corporations and their responsibility, because she discusses the notion of personal responsibility, which refers to what each individual is responsible for, and social structures, which designate the opportunity …
Marilynne Robinson recently published an article (“What are we doing here?“) on humanities and their role in university education. She argues that humanities help individuals be capable citizens. She speaks about Toqueville and the beauty of knowledge, about a cab driver and the world he learned from reading a book. She cautions against an education …
CSR, or Corporate Social Responsibility, is often viewed as an obvious, readily understood, homogenous concept. Yet a close look at CSR research challenges this view. Researchers have proposed a plethora of definitions for CSR, with each definition assigning a particular meaning to CSR. Orlitzky et al. (2011) speak of the “inconsistencies and debates regarding the proper …
Between May and December 2008, Western Digital, one of the largest computer hard disk manufacturers in the world, experienced a severe shock*. Its stock price fell from $37.53 to $11.45. In 2009, the company reported in its proxy statement that it used discretion, as opposed to objective performance metrics, for evaluating its CEO. In …
The access of women to power has attracted much attention recently, in light of the non-election of Hillary Clinton. Two authors have penned powerful essays on power and women: Rebecca Solnit, in From Lying to Leering, and Mary Beard, in Women in Power. Snap’s IPO involves nonvoting shares, which means that investors will get a …
Last week I visited Verdun, a town in France about a ninety-minute car ride from where I grew up in Luxembourg. It was my first time in Verdun, a charming town with a vibrant center, lots of those boulangeries that I love in France, and a promenade along its river, the Meuse. I came across …
Much of the corporate value creation today comes from machines, robots, and computers. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has a market value of 553 billion U.S. dollars, and employs 70,000 people. Boeing, an older and more traditional firm, is valued at 101 billion U.S. dollars, a fifth of Alphabet’s market value, and employs 161,000 …
In March 2015, eBAY announced a policy for gender and race diversity on its board of directors; hencefort, it will actively search for women and minorities when recruiting directors. This policy is news at eBAY, whose boardroom has traditionally been homogenous. Last year, for example, eBAY’s board counted 10 men and 1 woman. In 2015, …
I wonder how Philippe Couillard, the relatively new prime minister of my adopted home province of Quebec, feels about gender roles. Let me elaborate. Mr Couillard, prior to taking up his post, promised that a maximum of 60% of his ministries would be run by men. After his Liberal Party of Quebec won a majority …
During a recent lunch with my colleagues from the university, the talk turned to food and restaurants in Nice. I could chip in, as I had been doing my homework. Since moving to Nice last fall I have sampled restaurants that were recommended through word-of-mouth, restaurants that I read about, and restaurants that simply looked …
Arnaud Montebourg, the minister in charge of all things corporate in France (officially, le ministère du redressement productif), seems much in favour of … all things French. Companies are encouraged to stay in France, to produce locally, to hire locally. Recently, Mr Montebourg questioned the transaction between the French Alstom, which invented the TGV decades …
In 1977 the United Nations decided to dedicate March 8 to women’s rights. Here in France, as in many other places, women’s rights still have some way to go. French women earn on average 25% less than men. Women are more likely to do part-time work: 82% of all part time work in France is …