Subtle changes in the boardroom

• Daniel LEBÈGUE
  President, French Institute of Administrators (Institut français des administrateurs : IFA)
  
• Jean-Paul PICARD
  President, general management, Deloitte
  

Summary

For the last twenty years, and without the public realising, the way in which boards of directors function has changed radically. As far as the structure of the board is concerned, we are a long way from the situation which Zola described in L'argent : the manager chose a few close friends and 'fourteen others who were less important, selected from among the most obedient and most decorative of shareholders', and where the auditors played a part which was 'as delicate as it was useless'. Independent administrators and auditors now play an active role in audit and compensation committees which may meet as often as ten times a year. They ensure that there are no regrettable incidents such as the latest ones which recently led to disaster. What is the new function of these boards and what are the consequences of this change in the governance of companies, and, in the near future, the governance of mutual insurance companies, and even co-operatives and associations ?

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Jean BÉHUE GUETTEVILLE and translated by Rachel MARLIN.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference IN200306).
• download it for free in English (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference IN200306-ENG).

The entire article appears in French in the Journal de l'École de Paris du management N° 61.