Resource Library Articles

Eager to give greater attention to stakeholders beyond investors, corporate boards have been adding environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to their agenda.

While the Covid-19 crisis has caused a significant increase in board workload, the increased responsibilities relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters will continue.

Going public means adding structure and formality to many areas of a company. Part of that structure includes forming a compensation committee with a clear charter, delineated responsibilities, and a calendar of actions.

Brick-and-mortar retailers have faced a mounting set of challenges in recent years as they’ve sought to adapt to an increasingly omnichannel ecosystem. While the trend was slow-moving at first, the pandemic’s impacts on consumer behavior has been anything but—accelerating the growth of digital channels and driving changes from which there is no turning back.

The turbulent events of 2020 have heightened many American corporations’ sense of political and social responsibility. With the pandemic exacerbating income inequality and climate change still a long-term threat, investors and critics are calling on companies to care for all stakeholders, not just investors. Many boards are attending to their long-standing interests in environmental, social and governance issues more than ever before.

In setting or adjusting executive compensation for 2020, boards employed a variety of reactions and solutions. All of these were well intended, and some look to hold up well over time. Other compensation arrangements, by contrast, will look incongruous given what we know now.

Since the Business Roundtable’s 2019 call for greater attention to all stakeholders, corporate boards have been elevating environmental, social, and governance issues in their discussions.

With rising calls for social reform in 2020, investors and the media are focusing attention on companies’ efforts for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

By promoting diversity and inclusion, directors spur behavioral modification, not just D&I scorekeeping. They thereby lay the foundation for accelerated and permanent change.

There’s a new perspective for the debate over corporate short-termism. In the past, we focused on shareholder value, specifically whether firms were cutting R&D and physical plant in order to make quarterly numbers or buy back stock.

The coronavirus pandemic has profoundly shaken the retail sector. Rapid changes in consumer behavior, supply chain disturbances, and government-mandated store closures contributed to a difficult 2020.

Setting goals for incentive compensation has long been one of the compensation committee’s biggest responsibilities, made especially difficult by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lay out your objectives and see how others in the industry do TSR plans well to be on your way to having a good TSR Plan.