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This blog responds to Luke Johnson’s article in the Financial Times of May 24, 2011 criticising non-profit sector governance and accountability and proposing private company models as the best route. The original article can be found at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a0234f7c-8630-11e0-9e2c-00144feabdc0.html. While Luke Johnson’s article in the Financial Times defending private company corporate governance as the “least bad” option raises a few legitimate questions (A private lesson for the not for profits, May 24, 2011), it is largely an inaccurate and generalised representation of the non-profit world that many in the sector will find insulting. (more…)

The focus of this blog is Harvard Professor Joseph S. Nye, Jr.’s new book The Future of Power.[1]  Professor Nye defines “smart power” as “the combination of the hard power of coercion and payment with the soft power of persuasion and attraction.” This blog focuses on soft power and, in particular, the use of soft power by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other non-profit sector participants. The analysis applies in large part to other non-state actors (e.g. corporations and high net worth individuals) and is internationally applicable. I do not address negative soft power of non-state actors (e.g. terrorist groups). (more…)

The discussion below focuses on a recent highly acclaimed report in the UK called Women on Boards that outlines recommendations for addressing the challenge of increasing the number of women on corporate boards (the “Davies Report”). [1] The report was the work of a Steering Committee chaired by Lord Davies of Abersoch, CBE. The messages are internationally applicable (and indeed the report includes helpful background on the progress, practices, and regulatory approach in several other countries, including the US, France, and Norway). Equally importantly, the report’s approach is an excellent foundation for considering the issues in the non-profit sector across...

Recently there was an interesting article in the Financial Times called “Spotlight on ethics for new rankings” (Alison Smith, Companies section, UK edition, April 6, 2011). The crux of the article is the relevance of companies’ social, environmental, and governance concerns and efforts for asset owners and managers. However, a few quotes highlight a key issue that should be of parallel concern for non-profit organisations: the identification, management and communication of risks. One quote states that despite the increasing attention to rating companies in these three social responsibility areas, investors are “concerned with two things: getting a return as good...