Executive Skills for Board Members in Challenging Times

Directors today play a vital leadership role. A Director’s activities can be diverse, including oversight of the firm, performance reviews, budget and salary approval, managing relations with a growing stakeholder base, and playing a role in the M&A process. Today, directors must also consider a host of emerging challenges that impact the firm and its customers. Sustainability, globalisation, and evolving business models in response to digital technologies are just a few of the challenges.

In partnership with the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), this unique six-module directorship programme provides a 360-degree board-level view of key strategic areas and issues faced by company directors.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the programme your key takeaways will include the following.

• Increased understanding of the role of company directors
• Practical frameworks and strategies to effectively manage the critical issues around risk management, CSR, C-level succession planning and compensation, and more
• Overview and development of key frameworks for legal issues and prudent strategies to help boards navigate in today's litigious environment
• Soft skills development for managing relations and challenging discussions between board members.

Topics/Structure

This programme offers an ideal opportunity to strengthen your understanding of the director’s role and how to serve the firm more effectively. The intimate class size fosters interactions between current and new board members, faculty and leading practitioners in various fields. In addition, the modular design which can be taken non-sequentially gives you great flexibility. Participants who complete Modules 1, 2 and 3 will be awarded the Executive Certificate in Directorship. Upon successful completion of all six modules, participants will be awarded an Executive Diploma in Directorship.

The modules in this programme are:

• Module 1: The Role of Directors: Duties, Responsibilities and Legal Obligations

1. Explain the structure and operations of the board.
2. Describe the role and duties of directors on a board, and directors' inter- relationships.
3. Explain the consequences of a breach of director obligations.

• Module 2: Assessing Strategic Performance: The Board Level View

1. Identify the nuances and practicalities as well as apply the techniques of valuation of companies.
2. Describe the key issues arising out of execution of mergers and acquisitions in order to ensure that value is created.
3. Understand the key impacts and considerations of digital disruption on organisations.
4. Identify situations where digital transformation can be a benefit and a threat.
5. Employ culture and leadership to drive passion and productivity.
6. Understand and employ behavioural design in global growth.

• Module 3: Finance for Directors

1. Explain company accounts and how to evaluate the financial health of companies using accepted methods in financial statement analyses.
2. Understand how to evaluate and make rational financial decisions.
3. Provide knowledge of the different sources of funds for a company.
4. Discuss dividend decisions and policies.
5. Explain how various actions will impact shareholder value.

• Module 4: Risk and Crisis Management

1. Develop strategies to anticipate and prevent crises from occurring.
2. Deal effectively with crises as and when they do occur.
3. Implement contingency plans to cope.
4. Institute recovery measures to re-build image, reputation and regain the confidence of key stakeholders.

• Module 5: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Investor Relations

1. Explain strategic CSR and its impact on business value.
2. Describe the CSR landscape in Singapore.
3. Outline the requirements of corporate social reporting.
4. Provide an understanding on how to integrate CSR into a company’s core business objectives in order to create business value and achieve positive social and environmental impact on Investor Relations.
5. Understand how business valuation is carried out through the application of the various valuation approaches/methods commonly used by business valuers.
6. Understand business valuation for financial reporting in the context of fair value measurement, in particular, the purchase price allocation process, valuation of identifiable intangible assets and impairment testing.
7. Learn about the structure and the essential components of the valuation report as prepared by the business valuers for communication to relevant stakeholders.

• Module 6: Effective Succession Planning and Compensation Decisions

1. Provide an understanding of how to design a succession planning programme to ensure continuity of talent in key C-suite positions.
2. Share approach to define the need for these key leadership roles and identify which employees should be developed to fill these positions in the future.