Our Services
Masters-Rudnick & Associates helps CEOs and boards deliver high performance and inspire shareholder confidence through effective governance. Our clients include publicly-traded companies, privately-held firms, family-owned companies, educational institutions and other non-profit organizations; and our services encompass the entire range of governance issues, including: CEO & Board Support / Advisory Services Act as confidential advisors to CEOs and board and committee chairs Help develop strong CEO-board working relationships Conduct “360? interviews with directors and senior management Mediate disputes and differences among board members Develop processes to prevent disagreements from becoming disputes Develop director and officer orientation programs Strengthen senior staff support of the board Tailor appropriate information packages Establish effective board ...
Media
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION: Improving Board Effectiveness: Bringing the Best of ADR into the Boardroom – A Practical Guide for Directors, (2005), Jon Masters and Alan Rudnick, Authors Beyond Legal: A Business Approach to Corporate Governance, Alan Rudnick, Conference Panelist (2006) Section of Dispute Resolution Seventh Annual Conference, Jon Masters, Panelist (2005) THE CONFERENCE BOARD: Commission on Private Enterprise and Public Trust (2002-2003), Alan Rudnick, Counsel The Conference Board Directors’ Institute (educational programs for corporate directors), Alan Rudnick, Program Chair and faculty member (2003 through present) The Evolving Relationship Between Compensation Committees and Consultants (2006), Alan Rudnick and Dr. Carolyn K. Brancato, Authors "Crash Course" on Corporate Governance ...
Jon J. Masters
As a corporate governance specialist and trusted advisor to CEOs, corporate staffs and boards of directors on governance issues and board dynamics, Jon Masters draws on broad and deep experience. He has been a managing principal of a corporate governance consulting firm, a senior partner in a law firm, a vice chairman of a securities firm, and a director of both business and non-profit corporations. He also served as the Legal Advisor to the Blue Ribbon Commission established by the National Association of Corporate Directors on Performance Evaluation of Chief Executive Officers, Boards and Directors and is a member of ...
Alan A. Rudnick
Alan Rudnick’s specialization in all aspects of corporate governance has developed through a broad range of experience, including service as a corporate general counsel and corporate secretary, work in the corporate finance and treasury arenas, practice with a private law firm, and as a principal of his own governance consulting firm. Drawing on his legal training and experience with boards, he works extensively with CEOs, boards, and corporate staffs to help them become aligned with the company’s strategic goals and plans, evaluate their effectiveness, resolve internal disputes, and establish governance processes that are best for the enterprise’s long-range goals, and ...
We invite you to give us a call to discuss the corporate governance issues which may be troubling your organization or otherwise impacting the board's effectiveness. We recognize that each company is unique, and, therefore, the appropriate resolution of the issues the company and board face must be tailored to their individual circumstances.
The focus of the discussion would be to help you (a) identify the issues underlying your corporate governance needs, (b) understand why previous efforts to resolve them have not succeeded, and (c) uncover alternative approaches for their resolution.
Please call or email us to schedule your complimentary consultation today.
Insight
Investors, insurers, regulators, and creditors demand board of directors that produce good corporate governance and minimize the risks that poor governance...
In The News
The latest report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers indicates that the company indulged in shady, albeit legal, accounting maneuvers that masked the depth...
Greed
Greed is not so good today. Gordon Gekko’s time may be passing. Gus Levy, Goldman’s chairman in the old days, may have had the right approach when he said, “Goldman is...
Looking at Risk
The great unanswered question about the downfall of the big banks is where was the board? We talked the other day with the CEO of a financial-services related company. His...
See Below C-Level
Here are a couple of thoughts that audit committees and auditors might consider regarding risk. First, it seems clear that at Bear Stearns (per the book House of Cards) that there...
Board Effectiveness
Just a cautionary note: Independence and industry experience are important and necessary attributes for directors, but they are not a foolproof protection against poor board performance....
Make Your Vote Count
Activist shareholders, regulators, and other corporate aficionados are urging directors to meet with, listen to, and get input from their company’s long-term shareholders. ...
CEO-Board Relationships
Can it be the law of unintended consequences at work? Does board independence raise the risk of adversarial relationships between boards and CEOs which in turn undermine companies’...
Empty Voting
Lending shares is a big business. Ask any large pension fund, and they will tell you that they lend shares because their funds benefit financially from the fees received. Lending...
Trust, but Verify
Are audit committees digging deeply enough? That’s one of the troubling questions raised by the Valukas report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Valukas report chastised...
Risky Business
I just finished reading House of Cards, by William Cohan, which details the fall of Bear Stearns. The unfettered greed that the book described is something I expected to see. ...



