Thin on Top: Why Corporate Governance Matters and How to Measure, Manage, and Improve Board Performance

Rating:
Summary: Thin on top!
Review: Bob Garratt's book completes a trilogy: the others being "The Learning Organization" and "The Fish Rots from the Head".

His offerings come at a particularly important time, both for the world of business and for civil society. Bob addresses issues around the globe, and his observations and opinions are of value within an equally wide variety of contexts.

I hope that decision-makers will consider how his views and ideas relate to their own spheres of responsibilty, whether they are in corporate life or government.

Rating:
Summary: Thin on top!
Review: Bob Garratt's book completes a trilogy: the others being "The Learning Organization" and "The Fish Rots from the Head".

His offerings come at a particularly important time, both for the world of business and for civil society. Bob addresses issues around the globe, and his observations and opinions are of value within an equally wide variety of contexts.

I hope that decision-makers will consider how his views and ideas relate to their own spheres of responsibilty, whether they are in corporate life or government.

Rating:
Summary: GUTSY, FORWARD-LOOKING, & CHALLENGING TO THOSE AT THE TOP!
Review: This is an enlightening, to-the-point, and highly absorbing probe of the role of the board. The author pulls no punches as he explores the rising power of CEOs and why boards fail. The book reveals how many recent business disasters are due to ignorance, strategic incompetence, and personal cowardice at the board level, along with the rise of the "celebrity CEO."

Garratt does more than point up the core problems; he shows how boards can re-establish their governance role and primary loyalty to the company as a legal personality. Garratt's main aims for change are assessing board performance, developing a learning board, and professionalizing the board. Distinctions between UK and US boards are made, but Garratt sees boards in both countries facing the same root issues.

This is a book that really delivers knowledge and keen observations. We at Stern's Management Review Online hrconsultant.com find that the author's views are carefully argued and gutsy, and his conclusions and direction for change are strategic, forward-looking, and challenging to those at the top. THIN ON TOP is THICK with insights and ideas. Must reading for directors, top executives, and other stakeholders.