October 21, 2004
Giuliani Wants Business Leaders to Answer to their Constituents
True enough, today's CEO's and CFO's are leaders in society. They probably do not see themselves that way though. They are hired by a board and answer to a board. They answer to various regulators, but the public as a constituent audience probably is not in the forefront of many business leaders' minds.
They are under ever growing pressure to produce the expected results. This can lead to compromises that the public will not understand. Because businesses have so much impact on the daily lives of everyone, business leaders need to take the view that they do have responsibilities beyond the boardroom. In order to do this, though, boards, shareholders and analysts must change their viewpoints.
Because at the end of the day, "you get the behavior you compensate for". CFO's and CEO's are answering to their many bosses. Their bosses need take a different view as well.
A timely article highlights this point:
"Mr [Rudolph] Giuliani, speaking at the Leaders in London conference, said: "Lots of the problems we have seen in the private sector would not have happened if company leaders thought of themselves as politicians in the best sense.
"Corporate leaders need to recognise a constituency responsibility - to stockholders and to the community."
Mr Giuliani identified America's Sarbanes-Oxley Act as prompting such a shift. Among other measures, the legislation calls for chief executives and finance chiefs to sign off accounts personally" Click here for the complete article.
To learn how your company can both comply effectively and affordably with Sarbanes-Oxley and receive other operational benefits as well, see www.issuescentral.com for information on Issues Central Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Playbook(tm).
They are under ever growing pressure to produce the expected results. This can lead to compromises that the public will not understand. Because businesses have so much impact on the daily lives of everyone, business leaders need to take the view that they do have responsibilities beyond the boardroom. In order to do this, though, boards, shareholders and analysts must change their viewpoints.
Because at the end of the day, "you get the behavior you compensate for". CFO's and CEO's are answering to their many bosses. Their bosses need take a different view as well.
A timely article highlights this point:
"Mr [Rudolph] Giuliani, speaking at the Leaders in London conference, said: "Lots of the problems we have seen in the private sector would not have happened if company leaders thought of themselves as politicians in the best sense.
"Corporate leaders need to recognise a constituency responsibility - to stockholders and to the community."
Mr Giuliani identified America's Sarbanes-Oxley Act as prompting such a shift. Among other measures, the legislation calls for chief executives and finance chiefs to sign off accounts personally" Click here for the complete article.
To learn how your company can both comply effectively and affordably with Sarbanes-Oxley and receive other operational benefits as well, see www.issuescentral.com for information on Issues Central Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Playbook(tm).
