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On July 19, a glitch during a CrowdStrike software update caused widespread computer outages that affected thousands of businesses around the world and woke up corporate executives to a new cybersecurity danger. Director Columnist Matthew Scott recently spoke with Chris Hetner, former senior cybersecurity counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission and cyber risk counsel to the National Association of Corporate Directors, to get insight into how corporate boards should respond to ever-evolving cyber risks. Below are edited excerpts from their conversation. How should the global IT outage linked to CrowdStrike software updates and Microsoft operating systems in July, which…

They knew and felt that before they attended the recent Directors' Forum in Dallas, but the directors in attendance were made clear their situation and responsibilities by Leo E. Strine Jr. during one of the forum's sessions. Director magazine and the American Institute of Corporate Directors conference. “Corporations exist forever, they don't get the death penalty, they don't go to prison,” says Strine, a former chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court and now a corporate lawyer. “Corporations have immunities and privileges that exceed those of humans, so instead they should be good corporate citizens. And what is the concept…

Fractional CFOs provide strategic financial guidance and expertise to companies on a contract basis. Small, growing businesses that have never had a financial officer are often the ones most in need of help. What is it like jumping into an organization where you have no understanding of where your losses are coming from, what your actual operating costs are, or why you always have excess inventory? Eric W Neumann has solved many client problems as a part-time CFO at New Life CFO Services in Dallas. Our writer Katie Kuehner-Hebert asked him to provide examples of two notable client engagements and…

Editor's Note: For many years chief executive officer Columnist Jonathan Burns died He passed away on May 7 at age 75 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. An MIT professor, consultant, and co-founder of Profit Isle, he was a brilliant mind, a thoughtful businessman, and a kind person. We will miss him. This column is one of several he sent us before his death. *** Recently, I was involved in a discussion about a large strategic investment that a company was considering — a potentially game-changing investment that involved the development of a significant new business capability for…

Editor's Note: For many years chief executive officer Columnist Jonathan Burns died He passed away on May 7 at age 75 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. An MIT professor, consultant, and co-founder of Profit Isle, he was a brilliant mind, a thoughtful businessman, and a kind person. We will miss him. This column is one of several he sent us before his death. *** Recently, I was involved in a discussion about a large strategic investment that a company was considering — a potentially game-changing investment that involved the development of a significant new business capability for…

Question: Why do once successful businesses fail? Answer: They aren't reevaluating their core revenue streams often enough. If you've ever built a business from scratch, you know that in the early stages you have to get your priorities straight: you have to identify the big rocks, the high-level pieces, and get it right. Over time, you build up aggregates around larger rocks to strengthen and support them, thus avoiding as many future risks as possible and maintaining your advantage. Then many of the medium sized aggregates become entire divisions, each with their own subset of goals and strategies, further strengthening…

Editor's note: In response to overwhelming demand among small business leaders for practical, cutting-edge tools and professional development in generative AI skills, Chief Executive Group launched AI CONNECT, a learning community for ongoing training and sharing of AI tools and best practices among business leaders. It's low-cost, highly effective, and available live or on-demand. Join us > Companies with talented employees who know how to work with AI in their roles will dominate their industries. As the recent 2024 Work Trend Index annual report from Microsoft and LinkedIn noted, “The data is in: 2024 is the year AI in the…

McKinsey recently released a global survey of CFOs that revealed that the biggest obstacles to deriving value from data and technology are organizational, not technical. The most significant obstacles were the finance team's heavy workload and the lack of related capabilities within the team. Technical issues such as inadequate IT infrastructure and poor data quality were cited less frequently. Leslie Cotton, CFO and chairman of Labor Finders, a national industrial staffing firm based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is a big believer in leveraging automation. “By automating certain processes, we've freed up our staff from a ton of data entry…

Conagra Brands products are household names in kitchens around the country. A major force in the packaged food industry, the company is behind an impressive array of popular brands, from Hunt’s ketchup, to Healthy Choice frozen meals, to Pam Cooking Spray. In this episode, Jack McCullough speaks with executive vice president and CFO David Marberger about his journey to becoming CFO at Conagra Brands and the company’s transformation—selling or spinning off $7 billion worth of business in 2016, and making a major acquisition in 2018—to become the pure-play branded food titan it is today. He shares how they successfully handled…

Spending time with talentBut directors say time constraints are a challenge, with half of those surveyed citing “competing priorities for the board's attention/tight schedules and limited time” as the biggest barrier to the oversight practices they consider most effective, such as direct engagement with employees.Dozier counters that boards simply need to commit to putting in all the time necessary to get talent management right. “If you're a director, you should make time for everything that's important,” he says. “So if that means you have to have an eight-hour meeting or two days, that's the answer. Take your time and don't…