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Inside the Conference Board Honoring 2 Companies and Mature Workers: Expands China Center for Peter F Strengthening Performance. Shaping Values.SM a summary of news and views from the conference board, a global business network Winter 2005 BoardNews Inside The Conference Board Honoring 2 Companies and Mature Workers: Expands China Center for Peter F. Drucker The Conference Board Receives Major Grant Economics and Business Peter F. Drucker died November 11, 2005, at his home in Claremont, California. Women at the Top: More companies and their top executives are profiting The Case for Diversity from their participation in The Conference Board China Center for Economics and Business. The father of modern management, Major Nations Losing Drucker coined the terms “management Education Lead to The Center, which is becoming a major repository of lat- by objective,” “knowledge workers” and Emerging Countries est business intelligence about the Chinese economy, is many others. He also inaugurated the based in both Beijing and New York. It brings together annual essays that now appear in The 3 A Rise in Director business, government and other leaders to exchange Conference Board Annual Report. and CEO Pay insights and knowledge. The Media and Founding members of the Center include Agilent Drucker was hailed by Business Week as The Conference Board Technologies, Campbell Soup, Caterpillar, China “the most enduring management thinker Development Bank, DBS Bank, Deloitte & Touche, GE, NV of our time.” The Wall Street Journal called 4 Corporate Giving Bekaert SA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reliance and Reuters. him “the first philosopher of manage- Moves Up ment.” But Drucker called himself a “social ecologist.” The Conference Board is hon- Healthcare Costs a Big CEO Worry in U.S., But ored that he participated in so many of Not in Asia, Europe United Nations Ripe for our events and activities. How Charmers Can Kill Your Company Reform, Volcker Tells The Conference Board The widespread oil-for-food scandal shows the United Nations is more than ready for reform, Paul Volcker told business leaders at The Conference Board Annual Meeting in November. Noting the “pervasive corruption” in the U.N. program, which Volcker’s Commission was brought in to investigate, the former Fed chief said the “saga” has major implications for global economic development and corporate governance. Paul Volcker “Maybe some are satisfied with a relatively weak U.N.,” Volcker declared. “But I don’t think that can be in the best interest of the United States or other democracies. I’d like to think our investigation can help lead to a better result. The need is clear. The time is ripe.” 2 the conference board Boardnews winter 2005 Companies and Mature Workers: The Conference Board Receives Major Grant The Conference Board has received a $2 million grant from Atlantic Philanthropies to study company practices regarding mature workers. At The Conference Board’s A series of research studies are planned to examine best prac- Annual Dinner, left to right: tices for retaining and engaging America’s rapidly aging workforce. With rising numbers of Richard E. Cavanagh, President baby boomers set to retire in coming years, some organizations are designing strategies to uti- and CEO, The Conference Board; Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Reuters lize their widespread experience and deep knowledge. It is hoped that the practices identified in Group; Samuel A. DiPiazza,CEO, The Conference Board’s upcoming reports will serve as models for organizations of all kinds. PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chairman of The Conference Board’s Board of Trustees. Women at the Top: The Case for Diversity Four prominent women leaders underscored the power of cultural diversity at a “CEO Dialogues” panel. The event, co-sponsored by The Conference Board and The Week magazine, was held at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City. UBS served as financial sponsor, and more than 200 invited guests attended. The panel featured Catherine Kinney, president of The New York Stock Exchange; Carol Kovac, general manager of IBM’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Division; Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide; and Suzy Welch, co-author of Winning with her husband Jack Welch, who was in the audi- ence. Maria Bartiromo, TV anchor at CNBC TV, served as moderator. “To me,” said Kovac, “diversity is the biggest issue we face. One of the great parts of women rising to positions of influence in corporations is that they use that influ- ence to try to drive some policies that are more friendly to women.” Lazarus pointed out that companies need to do more to make sure that women are Jack Welch, former CEO of viewed and rewarded in the same way as men are. “All we need is a meritocracy,” declared General Electric, with Joan Dargery, Executive Vice President and COO Lazarus, “a place where people will be rewarded and recognized by what their contribution is.” of The Conference Board, at a Suzy Welch said that all business leaders were beginning to recognize “the power of women recent meeting on “Women in Power: Views from the Top.” and diversity in making their organizations effective.” Major Nations Losing Education Lead to Emerging Countries Advanced nations are losing their educational lead to the developing world, threatening long- time advantages enjoyed by the United States and other major countries. In China, India and other fast-growing economies, literacy rates are rapidly approaching stan- dards in the world’s leading nations. The Conference Board Chief Economist Gail Fosler argues that the world’s educational land- scape is rapidly changing. “The world economy may achieve near universal literacy within a winter 2005 Boardnews the conference board 3 generation,” she observes. “The sea change is well recognized in math, science, and engineer- ing, but the simple fact is that emerging markets will generate increasingly large numbers of college graduates in all fields.” Source: StraightTalk, Vol. 16, No. 9, The Conference Board, October 2005. A Rise in Director and CEO Pay The pay of both outside directors and CEOs has climbed. The widely watched annual survey by The Conference Board shows that median compensation for outside directors of U.S. boards is up in two of the three major business sectors. Median directors’ pay is now $91,000 in manufacturing, up from less than $73,000 last year. The figure is $81,875 in the service sector, up from $70,000 last year. However, total compensation was down to $64,500, compared with $67,000 last year, in the financial services sector. Last year, CEO compensation was up in all industries, with bonuses widespread. Stock-option grants continue to decline, but restricted stock plans are growing and getting larger. Source: The 2005 Top Executive Compensation Report, R-1377-05-RR, The Conference Board, November 2005; Directors’ Compensation and Board Practices in 2005, R-1379-05-RR, The Conference Board, November 2005. The Honorable David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, addresses The Conference Board’s The Media and The Conference Board Executive Compensation meeting. “Stocks Slip on Consumer Gloom,” headlined Fortune this October. “Dollar Slips after Latest Confidence Reading from The Conference Board,” said Reuters. “Indicators Point to Slowdown Ahead,” headlined CNN. “Stocks Tumble on News from The Conference Board,” reported ABC News. And the New York Post chimed in: “Hurricane-related chaos may make the raven- ous American consumer lose his appetite for new cars, homes and gadgets,” citing surveys released by The Conference Board. Other economic and management reports from The Conference Board are also moving markets and making news. Some recent examples: • This fall, the Wall Street Journal used data and analyses from The Conference Board to warn that companies are facing a massive exodus of baby boomers as workers hit retirement ages. But, quoting leading management specialists at The Conference Board, the paper noted that many companies fear asking employees when they will be leaving for fear of discrimination lawsuits. • Forbes.com, reporting on a new study by The Conference Board on the maturing workforce, found that older workers are being pursued by companies. They are being viewed as cost-effective answers to global competition, “which will exert a force the likes of which has never before been seen.” And CNN used findings from the study in Members of the Diversity and its special report, “Corporations Woo Baby Boomers.” Inclusion Council, left to right: Janet Portzer Money magazine spotlighted a survey from The Conference Board, showing that , Director, Global Diversity, • GlaxoSmithKline; VeLois Bowers, only 50 percent of all employees are satisfied with their jobs, down from 60 percent Vice President, Diversity and a decade ago. Inclusion, Kellogg Co.; Demetrai Mitchell, Director, Diversity, • The Conference Board’s new handbook on corporate governance was featured this Battelle; Charles Frew, Office of fall in Compliance Week, a major publication read by corporate board members and Diversity, BellSouth Corporation. 4 the conference board Boardnews winter 2005 top management. It noted that the new book calls on directors to become more independent and redefine their roles with management. • Consumer fears of having their Internet identities stolen has caused a dip in online buying, according to stories in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other media. The Conference Board survey shows that some 41 percent of consumers say they are buying fewer items online due to security threats. Andy Esparza, Vice President, Corporate Giving Moves Up Global Human Resource Services, Dell Inc., at The Conference Board’s Corporate contributions in both the United States and around the world continue to rise. meeting on organization design The Conference Board’s annual survey of giving shows an upward trend among both and renewal. companies and corporate foundations. A survey of 189 large firms shows contributions reaching $7.87 billion last year. But giving per worldwide employee rose to $392, up from $360 the year before.
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