This Month
- Opinion
- BOSS
Drumstick Awards: Five biggest corporate stuff-ups of 2023
It’s been a golden year for corporate scandals. But one company has outshone the rest, taking home the inaugural Triple Drumstick.
- James Thomson
March
- Opinion
- Opinion
Australian CEOs are about to face their toughest test in a generation
Managing inflation was supposed to be a huge test for chief executives, but raising prices has proved easy so far. But the squeeze on margins is coming, and it won’t be pretty.
- James Thomson
December 2022
- Opinion
- Interest rates
10 of the best opinion reads from this week
From Clough’s collapse to the biggest corporate stuff-ups of 2022, next year’s surprise rate plot twists and the PE veteran who says he can solve the housing crisis. Here are 10 thoughtful opinion pieces from the past week.
- Opinion
- BOSS
The five biggest corporate stuff-ups of 2022
Whiskey, casinos and coal – these great sins were at the centre of some of the business community’s largest missteps this year.
- James Thomson
October 2022
- Opinion
- Opinion
The philosopher: How CSL’s Paul Perreault thinks long term
The CEO’s acquisition of Swiss pharmaceutical company Vifor is a fascinating study in trust, thanks to his refusal to take a myopic view of his business.
- James Thomson
August 2022
- Opinion
- Opinion
The fundie paying big money to train female directors in Japan
The lack of gender diversity on Japanese boards is even worse than in Australia. Here’s how one investor tackled the problem himself.
- James Thomson
April 2022
- Opinion
- Opinion
The back-to-the office battle might be about to heat up
After Easter, expect a bigger push for a return to the workplace as most CEOs say, although they support flexibility, venues have an important role to play.
- James Thomson
February 2022
- Opinion
- BOSS
Magellan shows the dangers of key-person risk
Making Hamish Douglass the face of the firm built it into a giant, but created a problem with succession planning that is now being exposed.
- Updated
- James Thomson
December 2021
- Opinion
- Opinion
The five biggest corporate stuff-ups of 2021
It’s fitting that as the award for dubious corporate distinction celebrates its fifth year, one ASX giant has delivered perhaps the greatest example of corporate idiocy we’ve seen.
- James Thomson
October 2021
- Opinion
- Governance
KKR’s other big change ends governance flaw
The firm’s new CEOs will oversee the unwinding of its dual-class stock structure, amid a push to end the model that will arrive when Square swallows Afterpay.
- James Thomson
May 2021
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Deals in the time of COVID-19 need new playbook
Buying a company in the midst of a pandemic provided some extra challenges for two chief executive officers.
- James Thomson
April 2021
- Opinion
- Opinion
Jamie Dimon’s five lessons for decision-making
The JPMorgan CEO says it’s crucial to look at raw numbers and reality when making decisions, but there are times when too much analysis can be harmful.
- James Thomson
December 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
The five worst corporate stuff-ups in 2020
The business community managed to make a year of tumult even more difficult by ensnaring itself in a series of scandals, cock-ups and missteps.
- Updated
- James Thomson
October 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
Rich Listers win with boards that can say no
In public companies with wealthy major shareholders at their centre, independent directors occupy a funny – and occasionally fraught – position.
- James Thomson
September 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
Hard lessons for boards on who really calls the shots
Shareholder reactions to dramas at AMP, QBE and Rio Tinto have reinforced a small but growing shift in the power balance between directors and investors.
- James Thomson
July 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
Andrew Liveris: 'CEOs must disrupt themselves'
The former Dow Chemicals boss reveals the two things modern chief executives must have.
- James Thomson
June 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
COVID-19 creates a productivity puzzle
Many firms have seen productivity rise, thanks to remote working. But is it the right type of productivity for the long term?
- James Thomson
May 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
ANZ bids good riddance to bureaucracy
COVID-19 has shown that companies can act quickly and creatively. Now leaders must decide what cultural changes should be hard-wired into their business.
- James Thomson
April 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
The CEOs stepping up in response to COVID-19
The leaders of Australia's biggest companies have shown a determination to respond to the pandemic in the right way.
- James Thomson
March 2020
- Opinion
- BOSS
Warren Buffett's boardroom blueprint
The billionaire investor says too many independent directors are overpaid, overrated and not sufficiently invested in their company's fortunes.
- James Thomson
