All Briefs

In this year’s C-Suite Challenge survey, we asked 1,426 C-suite executives for their views on the Organization of the Future through 2025, including what skills will be needed to thrive in 2025 and beyond. The results outline a world of work where skill variety will become critical while organizations are reshaped by new business models.

Why is it that so many companies are ill prepared for the departure of the incumbent CEO, especially if that’s the result of poor performance, ethical issues, death or incapacitation? This article describes seven typical miscues in CEO succession planning, along with suggestions for how improved practices can lead to the preferred outcome: selection of a new CEO who is equipped to address the company’s critical challenges and opportunities and who enjoys the support of the Board.

If you were the founder or CEO of a start-up company or later-stage firm, would you be willing to pledge 1 percent of your equity to charity? Building a purpose-based company from the beginning can be difficult without cash or profit, but pledging 1 percent of your equity is a quick and easy way to get started. Pledge 1% is a global on-line movement that encourages and empowers companies of all sizes and stages to do just that.

Progress in the field of D&I is sluggish and often fleeting. To achieve our critical goals for individuals and businesses, we must be willing to question familiar assumptions and re-consider the relevance and effectiveness of today’s best practices.

Good practice risk oversight due diligence guidance clearly says boards should ask about the effectiveness of risk management processes. Evidence suggests many boards have not been. Why not?

The only way corporate mental health initiatives can be successful is if they are aligned with communication efforts. There are several functions of corporate communications that are necessary to consider when evaluating a company’s approach to mental health.

Goodwill on the balance sheet isn’t good enough. Until a better, more transparent accounting, or fair value method replaces goodwill, intangible assets will remain impossible to manage and unaccountable to shareholders. Not providing transparency will have consequences such as significant write-downs ($15 billion write-down for the acquisition of Kraft) of brands and restatements of financial reports.

In 2009, the US labor market was the weakest since the Great Depression. In 2019, after a decade of strong hiring and the retirement of about 3 million baby boomers a year, the US economy is experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. Employers are experiencing historical difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers, especially in blue-collar and low-paid occupations. In the next 12 months, despite some slowing in economic growth, labor markets will get even tighter.

As companies file their 2018 taxes, several corporate philanthropic leaders have contacted the Council on Foundations with concerns surrounding the new excise tax. As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Section 4960 of the bill imposes a 21 percent excise tax on highly-paid executives of nonprofit organizations.