Contents -- Foreword -- How can the board do better? -- Foreword -- Raising professional standards -- Acknowledgements -- About the Authors -- About this Book -- 1 The Role of the Board: An overview -- Introduction -- Are we getting the most from our boards? -- Board composition -- Four key tasks of the board -- Matters reserved to the board -- Improving the board's performance -- Information for the board -- Testing the statement of values -- Appointing a new chief executive -- What if things go wrong? -- Summary -- Appendix: Four key tasks of the board -- 2 The Company and Legal Duties and Liabilities of Directors -- Introduction -- The company -- Private equity holders -- Shareholders and stakeholders -- Directors' duties -- Disqualification -- Expectations of directors -- Summary -- 3 Governance -- Introduction -- Some first thoughts -- The legal and regulatory framework -- Other influences on corporate governance -- The internal framework -- Defining 'good' governance -- Nuts and bolts -- Governance in times of change -- Summary -- 4 The Role of the Chairman and the Non-executive Directors -- Introduction -- The chairman -- The independent non-executive director -- Summary -- 5 Key Committees of the Board -- Introduction -- The remuneration committee -- The nomination committee -- The audit committee -- Risk committee -- Summary -- 6 Building Effectiveness -- The world we live in -- Strategic failures -- Reasons for low trust -- Building blocks of better performance -- Trust and integrity -- Teams -- Communication and personal influencing skills -- Directors' attributes -- Work-related stress -- Summary -- 7 Leadership -- Introduction -- The fundamental qualities -- Approaches to effective leadership -- Leadership behaviours -- Behavioural characteristics -- attributes -- Sources of authority -- types of leaders.

Inspirational and perspirational leadership -- Successful leadership in practice -- Leadership and the board -- Summary -- 8 People Advantage -- Introduction -- Key areas for improving the people resource -- Management development and succession planning -- Foundation for managing people more effectively -- Assessing potential -- Summary -- 9 Small and Medium-sized Companies -- Introduction -- The shape of the SME sector -- Legal duties of directors -- Governance -- Vision, mission and values -- Information to manage the business -- Family companies -- Exit routes -- Summary -- 10 Charities and Not-for-profit Organisations -- Introduction -- The legal framework -- The need for good governance -- What makes for good governance? -- Putting the building blocks in place -- Starting up -- Choosing trustees -- Smaller charities -- Summary -- 11 The National Health Service -- Introduction -- NHS Foundation Trusts: the regulatory environment -- Key issues for the boards of Foundation Trusts -- Developing an effective board -- The role of the board of governors -- Summary -- 12 Ethics -- Introduction -- The case for ethics -- What are ethics? -- The challenges -- Ethical business: the starting point -- What should a code include? -- Key principles of a code -- Monitoring systems -- Ethical reporting -- Ethics and the supply chain -- Summary -- Appendix: Current business ethics issues -- 13 Corporate Governance in Turbulent Times -- Introduction -- The financial crisis -- The response in the UK -- Examples from abroad -- Summary -- 14 Practical Issues for Boards and Directors -- Introduction -- Pensions -- Sustainability -- Risk and the role of the board -- Summary -- 15 Bringing It All Together -- Introduction -- Using this book -- The synopsis -- Appendix: Summaryof the UK CorporateGovernance Code andthe Turnbull Guidanceon Internal Control.

References andfurther reading -- Index.