Behavioural Perspectives on Corporate Governance - An Academic-Practitioner Conference

Welcome Drink and Registration

Opening Remarks and Dinner

Keynote Address and Reflection

James Westphal, Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Strategy and Co-Director of ICOS, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

TED Talks: Key Challenges in Corporate Governance

Leaders in academia and in practice present what they identify as the key challenges on each of three topics singled out for this session (“TED talk” format with brief Q&A).

Researchers/Practitioners Discussion session

This session is designed to facilitate exchange between small mixed groups of academia and research and to identify new areas for research and discussion. During the coffee break, each partipant will get a chance to vote for the most important/interesting research questions.

Presentation by the Winning Teams

Presentation of winning research proposals and questions identified. Time will be given for Q&A.

Wrap-up: Future Directions of Governance Research

Lily Fang, Dean of Research, Professor of Finance, The AXA Chaired Professor in Financial Market Risk

Corporate Governance MythBusters (including coffee break)

Based on data collected from pre-conference survey, top three corporate governance myths would be identified and audience will get to vote (busted/plausible/confirmed) before academics present the research perspective.

Parallel Workshops (everyone will rotate to attend both sessions)

Workshop 1: The Director’s Court

Teams prepare a few speaking points for either for or against and the argument to support their grounds.

Workshop 2: Virtual Reality Experience

Attendees will go through a virtual reality experiment and led to answer some questions which will then be analysed with insights shared during debrief the next day.

Director's Court: The Trial

Teams will present and justify their arguments. The "Judge" will facilitate and give his/her views after hearing the arguments from both sides.

Welcome Coffee & Tea

Opening Remarks

Annet Aris, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, board member of Randstad NV, Rabobank, ASML NV and Jungheinrich AG

Dialogue: Rethinking Globalization Strategy

In the light of current geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruption, boards are increasingly rethinking their global strategies: Should production be re-shored? Should certain regions be (de)prioritized? How can this best be achieved: through M&A, organic investments and/or strategic partnerships? What role should boards play in supporting the executive management with these decision?

Introduction: Laurence Capron, Professor of Strategy and The Paul Desmarais Chaired Professor of Partnership and Active Ownership

Dialogue:

• Jeroen van der Veer, Chairman Boskalis NV, previously Chairman Philips NV and Chairman ING Bank, ex-CEO Shell
• Annet Aris, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, board member of Randstad NV, Rabobank, ASML NV and Jungheinrich AG

Coffee Break & Network

Debate: Balancing Shareholder Value and Societal Responsibility

Should companies sacrifice shareholder value for the benefit of society? Although many will argue that in the long term the two are aligned, in the short-term boards are facing concrete dilemmas, for example with regard to their product offering, their customer base and their supply chain. Activist shareholders challenge companies like Unilever and Danone, which in their eyes put purpose to much ahead of performance, and on the other hand NGO’s sue companies like Shell, which are showing - from their perspective - too little progress on the ESG front.
What exactly are the role and responsibilities of a board and to whom?

This session starts with 2 opposing academic views and will be followed by a plenary debate.

Introduction: Jaap Winter, Visiting Professor of Corporate Governance at INSEAD and Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Behaviour at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Challenge: Stanislav Shekshnia, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor Entrepreneurship and Family Business

Reflection:

• Gerard Kleisterlee, Chairman of the board of ASML NV, former Chair of Vodafone PLC, former board member of Shell and former CEO of Philips NV
• Gilbert Ghostine, CEO of Firmenich and Board member of Danone

Plenary debate

Networking Lunch

Case study: Dealing with Disruption in the Boardroom

Over the last year, volatility in the boardroom has greatly increased, not only due to a number of unexpected external global crisises but also because at first sight small events escalate easily in today’s hyper connected world. The ways boards cope with disruptions vary greatly. In this session, we will ask participants, based on a concrete case study, to debate in groups how, based on their experience, boards can best tackle these disruptions. The key insights will be shared plenary.

Case Study (tbc)
Group break out discussion
Sharing of key learnings

Takeaways & Closing Remarks

Annet Aris, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, board member of Randstad NV, Rabobank, ASML NV and Jungheinrich AG

Coffee Break & Return to Main Conference Path

Debrief on VR experiential workshop

Wrap-Up and Closing Remarks

• Conference Fee (Self-paying)

• Conference Fee (Corporate-sponsored)