Case Studies Explore Governance Challenges at Top Companies and Myths Surrounding Board Practices

STANFORD, CA – July 19, 2011 – As investors and regulators take a heightened interest in the role of boards, researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business are examining today’s most hotly debated topics in corporate governance. In Stanford’s “Closer Look” case study series, launched by the school’s Corporate Governance Research Program, Professor David Larcker and Brian Tayan take on everything from the sudden resignation of David Sokol from Berkshire Hathaway to the obligation of boards to disclose CEO health concerns to the (questionable) real value of proxy access.

“We launched the Closer Look series to give directors and board observers a deeper dive into some of the most important issues that boards are dealing with today,” says Professor Larcker. “Rather than rehash the standard ‘best practice’ governance advice for boards, we look at these issues in real time, based on the real trade-offs that companies have to make in complicated settings.”

With new releases once a month, the Closer Look series has explored the following topics, among others:

• Tesla Motors: The Evolution of Governance from Inception to IPO
• The Resignation of David Sokol: Mountain or Molehill for Berkshire Hathaway?
• Do ISS Voting Recommendations Create Shareholder Value?
• CEO Health Disclosure at Apple: A Public or Private Matter?
• Sensitivity of CEO Wealth to Stock Price: A New Tool for Assessing Pay for Performance
• Proxy Access: A Sheep, or Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?
• Lehman Brothers: Peeking Under the Board Façade

“The Closer Looks present a snapshot of our extensive research into timely governance issues, and show how theory plays out in practice,” says Mr. Tayan.

To speak with David Larcker, please contact Davia Temin or Suzanne Oaks of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or news@teminandco.com, or Helen Chang at the Stanford Graduate School of Business at chang_helen@gsb.stanford.edu. To receive monthly alerts about the Closer Look series, please email the Stanford Corporate Governance Research Program at corpgovernance@gsb.stanford.edu. You can also follow more corporate governance news at http://twitter.com/#!/StanfordCorpGov.

David Larcker is the James Irvin Miller Professor of Accounting at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He directs the Corporate Governance Research Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is senior faculty of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. He and Brian Tayan, a researcher with the Corporate Governance Research Program, are the authors of Corporate Governance Matters (FT Press, 2011).

Corporate Governance Matters: A Closer look at Organizational Choices and Their Consequences

 Video Details

Professor David Larcker directs the corporate governance research program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and recently co-wrote the book, Corporate Governance Matters, with Brian Tayan. While the book covers a wide range of topics, Larcker joined Corporate Board Member to discuss and debunk his seven myths of executive compensation. Read the entire interview here: http://www.boardmember.com/Talking-Points-Seven-Myths-of-Executive-Compensation.aspx