Traditionally the board receives a "board pack" - a thick pile of papers written by management which is packaged by the company secretary and sent via courier to the director's office or home.
This information is supplement by presentations to the board by the CEO and the management team.
Over the past year, the possibilities of the iPad are changing the way directors consume their board papers.
Chartered Secretaries Australia says the advantages of iPads include:
1. portability and ease of access to current board papers and an archive of past papers;
2. security - password protection may mean board papers are more secure on an iPad or tablet than in hard copy;
3. printing and delivery cost savings (after initial outlay for the technology);
4. improved record keeping.
Introducing iPads to directors isn't always a straight-forward exercise. Company secretaries I speak with talk about intensive training being required for some directors who are unused to the technology. Ensuring security of sensitive information is an imperative.
In subsequent posts on boardroom technology I'll convey the experiences and advice of company secretaries and chairmen who have accepted the challenge of using iPads in the boardroom. It's not simply a case of buying a set of eight or 10 iPads and letting directors start annotating their papers. Much more preparation is required. The good news is that the effort seems to be worth it.
Looking forward to reading your subsequent posts on the experiences of company secretaries and chairmen with iPads in the boardroom. CSA's Good Governance Guide sets out the multiple issues that need to be considered when introducing such technology to the boardroom (available at http://www.csaust.com/media/365618/2012_ggg_tablets_boardroom.pdf),but for those still standing on the shore, wanting to wade in, but unsure about the depth of the water, hearing directly from those who have undertaken this change in practice will be invaluable. One tip that I have heard is that if a director has grandchildren, they are often the best teachers for becoming familiar with iPads - not what immediately springs to mind with training, but worth considering.
ReplyDeleteThanks Judith for these comments which illustrate that learning something new can be done in so many diffferent ways. It may be that a director who is new to tablet technology will benefit from formal training in order to learn how to annotate the papers and keep them secure. But it will be their grand-daughter who teaches them keyboard shortcuts.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to enlarge graphs and diagrams on iPads is another benefit to add to the list above. Makes it easier to see the detail.
ReplyDeleteAs an supplier of technology to read Board papers on iPads, I advsie clients that they need to be very careful with their use in Board rooms. Any annotations privately made by Directors remain the property of the Company and need to be retianed by the Co. Sec.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree that the company owns the comments or annotations - but as a matter of good company policy, there should be a distinction between the official records and minutes of meetings - which have legal authority. This was tested in the James Hardie case (but is still before the High Court of Australia for final determination).
ReplyDeleteControlling paper copies of board discussions was tricky, but electronic versions could be even more difficult. As discussed above, training on the use of the technology and its implications - including the complex area of legal privilege - needs to be well understood by each and every director, executive and company secretary.
Given the Disney case, I do believe that the international trend is moving towards any annotations and comments made on electronic packs becoming property of the company in terms of being subject to subpoena by courts, but I'd be interested in watching of any cases in Australia (including JH). I work throughout the Middle East and Africa, we tend to destroy packs even if directors make notations on them, as the directors mainly note issues to query. We have less litigation, but being under Sharia law in many jurisdictions, anything can happen!
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