In a recent opinion piece, veteran journalist Mary Jander lambasted the boards of technology firms for not overseeing the risks taken by their companies. Jander is currently the Managing Editor of Internet Evolution, having previously worked for Byte and Switch, Light Reading and Data Communications magazine, so she has followed the industry long enough to distinguish fundamental issues from passing fads. As she puts it:
The recent CEO firings at Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard have turned the spotlight on the highest level of decision-making at public companies — the board of directors. Sadly, in these and too many other cases, the harsh glare is revealing that the board appears to be failing in its mission of leadership and risk management.
Jander makes a no-nonsense argument that board directors are paid well, that risk is undeniably their responsibility, that the tools and techniques of risk management already exist, but that Board members are not equipping themselves to do their job properly. You can read her hard-hitting article here.
