Author: Redaktion GBR
Tops vs. Flops

Ebeling, Nikutta & Co.: Why supervisory boards need psychologists

Chief controllers on the couch? That may be appropriate in individual cases. But it is crucial that they bring psychological expertise onto the board. Bonuses impair intrinsic motivation and the moral compass. Rigid targets are detrimental to creativity. And no: people are by no means inherently selfish. These are three scientific findings that psychologists and sociologists now regard as certain. Nevertheless, governance structures, compliance systems and manager salaries are still …

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Zeit
DEHNEN.s Corner

Why shorter board terms are dangerous – and how Brexit makes for good governance.

Dear readers of GermanBoardNews, this AGM season it is noticeable that numerous companies are shortening the terms of office for supervisory boards from five to four years (also for our Supervisory Board Member of the Week). As justification, the companies point with astonishing unanimity to recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code (DCGK) and “expectations” of investors. So this can’t be a bad thing. Or can it? I would like …

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Maschine
News from the scene

Holly Lei (Gea Group)

Düsseldorf-based machinery and plant manufacturer Gea is reorganizing its twelve-member supervisory board: At the Annual General Meeting on April 30, Covestro manager Holly Lei (60) and automation expert Jürgen Fleischer (59) will run for the board. Chinese-born Canadian Holly Lei is the full-time president of Covestro China and heads the company’s business in the region. Fleischer, a former Daimler manager, works as a professor for “Machines, Plants and Process Automation” …

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Vertragsabschluss
Tops vs. Flops

Matthias Hünlein vs. Hasso Plattner: Fighting CEOs, weakening team spirit?

The new salary caps for CEOs leave room for excess. Which supervisory boards are keeping a sense of proportion, why mega-salaries are a high business risk. In future, supervisory boards will have to define upper limits for the salaries of their board members. Some have already done so, others are content for the time being to state the best achievable sum in the annual report. But it is already clear: …

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Elmar Degenhart
DEHNEN.s Corner

Greensill scandal: where is the debate on the independence and attitude of supervisory boards?

Dear readers of GermanBoardNews, “Greensill” – greed meets stupidity? Yet the city treasurers wanted to be so clever. It takes an effort not to be outraged again. Because the pattern is always the same. First everyone is naïve, then everyone knows better and has quickly identified the culprits. Of course, the state financial supervisory authority must not be left out, and the denunciation of its failures is often supplemented by …

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Bayer Kreuz
News from the scene

Fei-Fei Li (Bayer)

Following the appointment of Ertharin Cousin a year and a half ago, the Bayer Group intends to further internationalize the Supervisory Board: At the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting on April 27, U.S. AI expert Fei-Fei Li and Brazilian agricultural manager Alberto Weisser will stand for election. Li, 44, is a professor of computer science at Stanford University and sits on Twitter’s board as a “non-executive director”. From 2017 to 2018, Fei-Fei …

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Tops vs. Flops

David Schwimmer vs. Theodor Weimer: Who attracts founders to the stock market?

The UK is making the stock market more attractive for entrepreneurs. Why Germany should follow suit – and what role supervisory boards play in this. After Brexit, stock market reform is on the horizon in the United Kingdom: a commission of experts recently recommended that the government smooth the way for founders and SMEs to enter the capital market. In the future, they should only have to place 15 percent …

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Klima
DEHNEN.s Corner

Climate protection: The Corporate Governance Code is supposed to fix it – a dangerous aberration.

Dear readers of GermanBoardNews, after the Federal Ministry of Justice, the German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) is now also on the minds of the environment, finance and economics ministries. The German government’s Sustainable Finance Advisory Board, which was set up by the three ministries, has high hopes for the Code: in its latest report, the board recommends that “minimum standards for the sustainability competencies” of management and supervisory boards be …

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