The Directors’ Consortium is a joint offering by the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
In light of regulatory changes and reduced public confidence, becoming an educated board director is a necessity, not an option. Board members need to understand their fiduciary, legal, and ethical oversight responsibilities—the bar has been raised for all directors. As a director, what sorts of questions should you ask management or outside experts? What level of expertise should you bring to an audit or a finance committee? What should shareholders expect from you as a director; what should you expect from management? How can you ensure that the governance decisions you make are best for the company? The Directors’ Consortium offers even experienced directors the benefit of a research-based, comprehensive approach to the complex decisions that board members must make. Taught by faculty members from accounting, finance, law, public policy, and strategic management, this program will help you build a “best practices” framework for thinking about and making informed board decisions.
- Policy and Strategy
- Nominating Committee Issues and CEO Succession
- Board Oversight and Spotting the Warning Signs for Management Failure
- Compensation Committee Issues
- Audit Committee—Qualifications, Responsibilities, and Content
- Finance
- Directors’ Fiduciary Duties: The Core Duties of Directors
An optional full-day session at the beginning of the program provides an
excellent foundation in finance and accounting basics for those with
limited financial backgrounds or for those who would like a concentrated
refresher from a board-level perspective. Those who are unfamiliar with
basic accounting principles, such as the relationships among the balance
sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows, should
consider attending the optional finance and accounting basics day.
The optional Finance Day offered August 12, 2008 will begin at 8:30 am and end at 5:00p.m. The Directors' Consortium offered August 13-15, 2008 will begin at 8:30 each day, end at 5:00pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and close on Friday at 3:00p.m.
This research-based program is designed for those who are, or are about to become, members of the board of directors of a public company. Board members of companies that aspire to become public in the near future will also benefit, as will those who serve on boards of foreign corporations that are listed or aspire to be listed on U.S. exchanges. The disciplines covered will have applicability to private or family company boards and nonprofit organizations, but not all of the specific regulations and processes of public companies will apply.
Leading faculty members from six world-class institutions designed The Directors’ Consortium to provide the latest thinking in corporate governance. This is a unique opportunity to learn from experts and apply that knowledge in the boardroom. Tuck School faculty include:
Sydney Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at Tuck. Recognized for his extensive research on strategic leadership and the management of mergers and acquisitions, his books Strategic Leadership: Top Executives and Their Effects on Organizations, Why Smart Executives Fail: And What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes, and Breakout Strategy are widely acclaimed. Professor Finkelstein has consulted with numerous international Fortune 500 companies in the areas of strategic leadership, general management, corporate crisis and mistakes, and managing mergers and acquisitions.
Anant Sundaram, Faculty Director of Executive Education and a member of the finance
faculty at Tuck, specializes in global finance. His research, teaching,
and consulting focus on linking value creation to global strategy
implementation. He has published dozens of articles and cases in
finance, law, and corporate strategy in leading journals, and is
coauthor of The International Business Environment. He is a highly
acclaimed teacher, and has won numerous teaching awards. He has led
courses for senior executives and consulted for many well-known global
firms and business schools worldwide. His specific areas of expertise
include business valuation, corporate governance, and mergers &
acquisitions.
For a full list of program faculty, visit The Directors' Consortium website.
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“The instructors had a thought-provoking style that made a real impact on my thinking. I left with a framework and understanding of best practices that will make me a more effective board member.” 
