Harvard Business Manager – Who Watches the Watchmen?

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Harvard Business Manager – Who Watches the Watchmen?

Supervisory board chairmen are more powerful than many executives realize, writes Egon Zehnder consultant Johannes von Schmettow in Harvard Business Manager. To prevent abuses of power, British firms have introduced the position of Senior Independent Director. Could this be a potential model for Germany as well, asks von Schmettow? Independent directors bundle board feedback, mediate in conflicts between chairmen and CEOs and manage issues personally affecting chairmen like succession. “Naturally there are no simple solutions to a classical dilemma like Plato’s watchmen question, but discussing it may prompt German companies to rethink governance issues,” von Schmettow concludes.

Full story: Johannes von Schmettow: Die Chef-Kontrolleure, (“The Chief Inspectors”) for the Harvard Business Manager website (26 November 2015).