Satisfying the Information Needs of the Board

Abstract

‘Getting the right information is a substantial part of the job,’ says Irving Shapiro, former Chief Executive of Du Pont. ‘The basic ground rule is that you cannot be taken by surprise. You get lots of information and most of it is totally unnecessary. The organization tends to want to give you the good news and not cough up the bad news… To manage well,’ Shapiro suggests, ‘you have to get the message across that whatever the story is let’s get it on the table fast so there are no surprises. But it doesn’t always happen that way.’ ‘No one wants to be the messenger and get his head cut off,’ adds Robert J. Bies, Professor of Organization at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.