Below I have provided a snapshot from NACD promotional materials that I received – the materials are Benchmark Your Board, with which I tend to agree, if the benchmark evaluation is done with meaningful detail, evaluation, and recommendations, and if the board then takes action to improve the board, and all levels of the organization. I find all of the statistics from the materials (see below) of interest; however, for the purpose of this blog post I am focused on the corporate culture section – earlier this year corporate or business or nonprofit or organization culture was heavily in the news, but these things tend to pass.

I don’t hear as much about culture now. But in my view, culture and values need to stay in the news as they are one of the keys to how the entity (i.e., the people in the entity) act or behave, and perform.

Notice, according to the materials, 87% of directors say that their boards have a high understanding of the tone at the top, but is that true and what does that really mean; only 35% of directors say that their boards understand the mood in the middle, whatever that means, but nevertheless, the percentage is very low; and only 18% have a high understanding of the buzz at the bottom, again whatever that means, but the percentage is very low. These seem like failing grades, evidencing, in addition to other things, that board members need get out and visit and mingle at the facilities more.

And here are additional materials from prior posts:

Best to you, David Tate, Esq. (and inactive California CPA), Royse Law Firm, Menlo Park, California office, with offices in northern and southern California.  My blogs: trust, estate, elder abuse and conservatorship litigation http://californiaestatetrust.com, D&O, boards, audit committees, governance, etc. http://auditcommitteeupdate.com, workplace http://workplacelawreport.com

David Tate, Esq., Overview of My Practice Areas (Royse Law Firm, Menlo Park, California office, with offices in northern and southern California. http://rroyselaw.com)

• Civil Litigation: business, commercial, real estate, D&O, board and committee, founder, owner, investor, creditor, shareholder, M&A, and other disputes and litigation; and investigations
• Probate Court Litigation: trust, estate, elder abuse, and conservatorship disputes and litigation
• Administration: trust and estate administration and contentious administrations representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries
• Workplace (including discrimination) litigation and consulting
• Board, director, committee and audit committee, and executive officer responsibilities and rights; and investigations

Royse Law Firm – Overview of Firm Practice Areas – San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles Basin

• Corporate and Securities, Financing and Formation
• Corporate Governance, D&O, Boards and Committees, Audit Committees, Etc.
• Intellectual Property – Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets
• International
• Immigration
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Labor and Employment
• Litigation (I broke out the litigation as this is my primary area of practice)
•             Business & Commercial
•             IP – Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Trade Secret, NDA
•             Accountings, Fraud, Lost Income/Royalties, Etc.
•             Internet Privacy, Hacking, Speech, Etc.
•             Labor and Employment
•             Mergers & Acquisitions
•             Real Estate
•             Owner, Founder, Investor, D&O, Board/Committee, Shareholder
•             Lender/Debtor
•             Investigations
•             Trust, Estate, Conservatorship, Elder Abuse, and Administrations
• Real Estate
• Tax (US and International) and Tax Litigation
• Technology Companies and Transactions, Including AgTech and HealthTech, Etc.
• Wealth and Estate Planning, Trust and Estate Administration, and Disputes and Litigation

Disclaimer. This post is not a solicitation for legal or other services inside or outside of California, and also does not provide legal or other professional advice to you or to anyone else, or about a specific situation – remember that laws are always changing – and also remember and be aware that you need to consult with an appropriate lawyer or other professional about your situation. This post also is not intended to and does not apply to any particular situation or person, nor does it provide and is not intended to provide any opinion or any other comments that in any manner state, suggest or imply that anyone or any entity has done anything unlawful, wrong or wrongful – instead, each situation must be fully evaluated with all of the evidence, whereas this post only includes summary comments about information that may or may not be accurate and that most likely will change over time.