Discussion Forum - Page 2 of 116 - The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI)

METRICAL:CG Stock Performance (Japan): May 2021

May stock market continued directionless trading after an upturn at the beginning of the month. CG Top 20 stocks outperformed against both the Topix and JPX400 indices. Stock prices opened higher at the beginning of the month on the back of lower US interest rates led by lower-than-expected US employment data, but subsequently kept directionless […]

The Need for Open and Frank Conversations at Board Level

“We are still way too polite with each other.” A repeated statement when Chief Executives describe their boards in Japan. Why is this a problem for Executives? Why do we, as coaches, hear this statement repeatedly?

The Board’s Responsibilities

Boards are responsible and held accountable for the decisions they are making. Hence, the quality of the decision-making process and the decisions themselves are fundamental to the work of boards, their organizations, and the investors. When board members are too polite with each other, they don’t have so-called healthy debates. Why do these debates improve the quality of decisions? Because they invite board members to share their professional opinions.

Without such debates, the board has neglected its mandate and responsibility towards the investors and the employees. At a personal level, an open and frank conversation among board members helps to create more buy-in and enhances the commitment of each member to the board decisions, as everyone has been heard.

Why is there no healthy debate in Japan?

Here are some reasons why we experience boards that are too polite. For one, the board might consist of ‘insiders’ only. This might lead to faster (superficial) consensus decision-making. However, that leads to biased and selective use of information together with a way of working to ‘not rock the boat’. A second reason is the lack of diversity. In Japan diversity is still closely linked to gender. But we need the diversity of thought, background, experience, education, etc.. Boards that lack this kind of diversity have a narrow perspective on topics as members see things the same way. This results in many blind spots. And thirdly, the required open and frank conversations in Japan are often happening in private settings outside of the boardroom, without the participation of every board member.

High performing teams 

As part of developing high performing team, healthy debating and constructive conflict management is a competency that can be coached. Before conducting such conversations, there needs to be a high level of personal trust.

February 9th “Director Boot Camp” Course Held by Video Conference! Next Course: April 7th, 2021!

On February 9th, still in the midst of the pandemic, BDTI held its English Director Boot Camp via Zoom. The day-long intensive course was attended by 10 highly-experienced and very interactive participants. The participants heard lectures about corporate governance by Nicholas Benes along with a guest lecture by Andrew Silberman of AMT, and exchanged experiences […]

METRICAL: CG Stock Performance (Japan): January 2021

January stock prices edged lower after surging in the middle of the month. CG Top 20 stocks underperformed against Topix and JPX400 during the 1-month period The stock market opened higher in January on the back of the stocks rally at the end of the previous month. After that, the market surged on the expectation […]

METRICAL:Post-COVID-19 Focuses on Family Companies

The environment surrounding our business is changing significantly in line with changes in social life due to the spread of the new corona virus infection. The biggest challenge for management is to adapt to these changes in the environment with a post-corona scenario in mind. We believe that one of the keys to adapting to […]

July 8th “Director Boot Camp” Course Held by Video Conference! Next Course: September 3rd, 2020!

On July 3rd, in the midst of the Corona virus pandemic, BDTI held its English Director Boot Camp via a teleconference arrangement. The day-long intensive course was attended by 12 highly-experienced participants, including one Chief Digital Officer, one Consultant, one Managing Director and senior executives. The participants heard lectures about corporate governance by Nicholas Benes, and Andrew Silberman of AMT, and exchanged experiences and opinions. Despite the IT challenges everything went smoothly, with breaks for everyone to stretch their legs or review materials in more depth.

We are planning to hold the next course on Thursday, September 3, 2020. Sign up early! Please see a description of our director training course here or click the button below for further information.

METRICAL:June-Stock Market Changed Significantly Due to Concerns of Coronavirus. CG Top 20 Stock Price Outperform Against Topix and JPX400.

In June 2020, the stock market price continued to rise in the first half of the month, following the favorable sentiment that economic activity resumed from the previous month. Since the number of new coronavirus-infected persons has increased worldwide, it has become a nervous development from the middle of the month and has a large up and down amplitude.

Both Topix and JPX400 stock indexes have fallen slightly to -0.12% and -0.01%, respectively, over the past month. CG rating score Top 20 stock price is +0.47%, outperforming both stock indexes significantly.

Redesigning Corporations: Incentives Matter

By Nicholas Benes
(also published in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance) 

The Birth of the Corporation: Public Interest Organizations

The evolution of the modern corporation is the fascinating story of a series of self-serving legal and societal mutations over hundreds of years, which have morphed the original concept and endowed corporations with freedom of activity, rights, and limitations on liability that would shock their original “inventors”.

As we all know, for many years most corporations were established by way of an exceptional “charter” by a sovereign, granted only in specific cases where: (a) large amounts of capital were needed (b) to conduct investments and activities that served public or national interests and had good profit potential, but (c) where the risks were so large that few parties would invest if their risk were not shared with many others and/or limited to the amount of money they invested.

In the 1600s and 1700s, the activities that sovereign nations felt met those requirements were the exploration of foreign lands on the other side of the globe, the creation and administration of colonies there, and conducting lucrative trade on long (and dangerous) sea routes to and from those colonies. Thus, the most well-known early corporations include organizations such as the British East India Company (the original “too-big-to-fail company), The Dutch East India Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and companies to construct the Erie Canal.

As the industrial revolution gathered steam, the need to raise large amounts of capital increased many times over. Driven by this need, the immense benefits of corporate status for raising financing became increasingly obvious and desirable to investors and managers: easy stock transferability vs. rewriting partnership agreements, separation of ownership from control, legal personhood that simplified large transactions such as loans and large investments (a single counterparty to deal with and sue), and the possibility of receiving a charter that conferred “limited liability” on shareholders. All of these made it much easier to raise funds in large amounts than any other form of business organization.

Message to JR Kyushu Shareholders

Fir Tree Partners submitted a shareholder proposal nominating me as an outside board director for JR Kyushu. This all began as Fir Tree, the largest and longest holding, active shareholder of JR Kyushu since its IPO, was working in dialogue with the Company to find suitable new board candidates. I accepted the nomination because I believe the current needs of the JR Kyushu board fit well with my previous professional experience as well as my knowledge base. In particular, my experience as both analyst and corporate executive should be helpful as I am in favor of dialogue between investors and companies.

In mid-April, I was surprised to learn that JR Kyushu management, after spending months screening and interviewing the various candidates, ultimately decided to reject all candidates that were under consideration with Fir Tree. At this time, Fir Tree asked us to be their shareholder candidates for this year’s annual meeting. Even though being elected to a board as a shareholder proposal candidate is still rare in Japan, I decided to accept the role because I feel strongly about the importance of good governance and the role of completely independent outside directors. As I learned more about JR Kyushu in the past few months, I have concluded that I can add to the JR Kyushu board the diversity, perspective, and expertise that I have developed as an analyst, fund manager, investor relations professional and corporate executive in charge of governance matters. To this end, I believe I can help JR Kyushu in addressing the current challenges caused by Covid-19 as well as fulfill its full potential.

I would also like to publicly state that I am completely independent from Fir Tree and have told them directly that at all times. Fir Tree approached me through the help of a third-party search firm. I previously knew nobody at Fir Tree. There is no financial arrangement between us. I will remain independent from Fir Tree should I be elected as a director of JR Kyushu. I will consider Fir Tree’s opinions as no more or less important than those of any other shareholder, large or small.

If elected to the JR Kyushu board, I would be completely open minded and unbiased. I would review all board matters carefully in consultation with the other board members, management, and shareholders utilizing both public and non-public information in order to form my own opinions. I would endeavor to make well informed decisions that are best for all stakeholders.

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