All articles

No success without succession

Janine Stewart says the Mainzeal case highlighted the importance of skill sets at the board table and the need for succession planning.

• Due diligence
• Future-proofing
• Liability

Governance news bites – 21 March 2025

A collection of governance-related news that you might have missed in the past two weeks.

• Board composition
• Shareholders
• Stakeholders

Letter from Australia*: Notes from a sunburnt boardroom

From superannuation woes to AI governance, Australia’s boardrooms offer lessons for Kiwi directors in an era of complexity.

• AI
• Climate change

Kordia report shows AI cyberattacks front of mind

AI attacks were cited as a problem by 28 per cent of respondents to the latest Kordia cybersecurity survey.

• Cyber security

What I’m reading – Amy Cavanaugh

What does resilience look like in effective leadership and decision making, and what needs to change to embrace true diversity?

• Board composition
• Leadership
• What I'm Reading

Building an inclusive boardroom together

Boards play a critical role in setting the tone for inclusive leadership.

• Board composition
• Diversity

A time-sensitive opportunity for charities to build financial sustainability

The JBWere Bequest Report 2025 highlights an opportunity for charitable organisations to strengthen financial resilience.

• Family business
• Not for profits
• Purpose

IMHO: The post-war consensus has gone

The world has fundamentally changed. Business and government must work together to protect the NZ economy.

• Supply chains
• Trade

Strategic focus needed to future-proof New Zealand’s economy

Traditional economic strengths may no longer be sufficient to ensure our future prosperity, new report claims.

The wake you leave behind

The wake you leave behind needs to be about normalising the presence of women in governance, not as the exception, but as the expectation.

• Board composition
• Board dynamics
• Chairing

Why microaggressions could send women off the glass cliff

Burn out and distress might be a result of microaggressions and could be derailing women from getting to the top – and staying there.

• Board dynamics
• Diversity
• Leadership

Walking on broken glass

Calling out poor behaviour is the first step towards avoiding broken glass and having to walk away from toxic behaviour in the boardroom.

• Board dynamics
• Conduct
• Diversity

Mentoring: A safe harbour

Mentoring can enable you to stay the course, overcome challenges or obstacles and move forward with clarity. Find out more.

• Chairing
• Leadership

Governance news bites

A collection of governance-related news that you might have missed in the past two weeks.

• AI
• Board composition
• Succession Planning

App ban the right move

Should you ban these apps from your work devices?

• Cyber security
• Digital

Multiplying the impact

Could collaboration ease the pain in the for-purpose sector? Suzanne Cookson believes it can and that change can be multiplied by doing so.

• Board meetings
• Chairing
• Not for profits

Credit crunch and green shoots: navigating New Zealand’s economic headwinds

Directors face a mixed bag of cautious optimism and pressing financial challenges.

Former Port of Auckland chief executive sentenced

The first conviction of an officer of a large company under the Health and Safety at Work Act has resulted in a $130,000 fine.

• From our sponsors
• Health and safety

Phoenix achieves measurable, structured emissions reductions

A strategic approach with a focus on one factor at a time has begun paying off in terms of carbon emissions reductions.

• Climate change

Capital markets reform submission supports reassessment of liability provisions

Chapter Zero New Zealand made a submission on proposed changes to the climate-related disclosures regime.

• Climate change
• Liability

Tax reforms stir debate among NFP directors

Proposed changes to the treatment of unrelated income, donor control and mutuality may reshape tax compliance for the not-for-profit sector.

• Compliance
• Not for profits

Sue Suckling: ‘I’ve always been someone to make things happen’

One of the first women to sit on a board, Sue Suckling shares what it took to push change and the people who supported her along the way.

• Board composition
• Diversity
• Leadership

Governance news bites – 21 February 2025

A collection of governance-related news that you might have missed in the past two weeks.

Evaluating before the failures

The UK Post Office scandal highlights critical importance of ethical leadership, accountability and stakeholder engagement.

• Board evaluation
• Leadership

What I'm reading - Daryn Govender

What laws do you live by that bring you closer to your purpose? This review addresses 33 laws that are applicable to everyday life.  

• Leadership
• Purpose

The key to achieving sustainable growth

The circular economy can help unlock economic growth by reducing waste, optimising resource usage and creating new business models.

• Climate change
• Leadership

The AI guardrails schism – where should NZ stand?

World leaders are no longer in step when it comes to regulating the impacts of AI.

• AI
• Leadership

Governance and orders of consciousness: a different leadership lens

Effective directors and chairs need more than job-based competencies.

• Leadership

IMHO: Cybersecurity, reputation and tough calls

New Zealand directors can learn from Australia’s latest boardroom scandal.

• Crisis management
• Cyber security
• Leadership

Who are you backing in the AI race?

We need to remove the FOMO – and find the right horse, says Kiwi AI strategy consultant Tim Sharp.

• AI
• Digital

IMHO: A short-term focus on survival is exhausting

How to switch our thinking from what we feel we lack to what we can offer.

Governance news bites – February 2025

A collection of governance-related news snapshots that you might have missed in the past two weeks.

• Diversity
• Ethics
• Succession Planning

Prioritising safety for leaders and boards – lessons from a tragedy

Keeping our people, and ourselves, safe is a governance imperative.

• Health and safety

The future of jobs

The World Economic forum predicts how the workforce of tomorrow is being shaped today.

• Climate change
• Talent

Board Packs support effective decisions

Zero in on governance specific issues with Board Packs - the Institute of Directors’ new board development product.

• Board meetings
• Conflict of interests
• Health and safety

Modern slavery: boards must lead with integrity

Modern slavery is not only a moral imperative but an economic and social priority for New Zealand business.

• Liability
• Supply chains

IMHO: Generative AI in the boardroom – two views into the future

Embracing AI in the right way can help boards build trust and enhance governance.

• AI
• Board meetings
• Digital

The shifting DEI landscape: Why directors should stay the course

Research consistently shows that diversity leads to more effective, long-term value creation.

• Diversity

Resignation letters and transparency

Directors active in the public sector need to be keenly aware of heightened obligations that come with their roles.

The Chairman’s Lounge – Joe Aston on the downfall of Qantas

The story of how the once-loved Australian airline became a ‘national pariah’.

• Conduct
• Conflict of interests
• Leadership