2008 article index: the hot issues and agenda items that Directors & Boards authors tackled last year.

Annual Meetings

Face the Music (and the Shareholders)--Annual shareholder meetings may not be so "Soviet" in their routine this season. By DIRECTORS & BOARDS Chairman Robert Rock. Second Quarter 2008

Audit Committees

Enhancing Audit Quality--The CAQ is on the case. By Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality. Annual Report 2008

On Being a Successful Audit Committee Chair--Five best practices being implemented today by audit committee leadership. By Frederick Lipman of Blank Rome. Fourth Quarter 2008

Board Composition

Be Strategic about Board Composition--It is naive to assume that all directors are equally capable in every respect. By Curtis Crawford, CEO of XCEO Inc. First Quarter 2008

Diversify the Board ... by Personality Type--A key to a high-functioning board is to intentionally bring together people with differing personality styles. By Peter Spanberger of PGS Partners LLC and Susan Jackson of Vela LLC. Second Quarter 2008

No Time for Stockdale--Women directors: optics vs. vive la difference. By columnist Hoffer Kaback. Third Quarter 2008

Getting from a Good to a Great Board--You can do it through gender diversity. The qualified woman candidate for your board is out there--if you look for her in the right places and with the right process. By Janice Reals Ellig of Chadick Ellig and Ilene Lang of Catalyst. Fourth Quarter 2008

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Board Dynamics

Big Fish, Little Pond--How large-company execs best fit into smaller businesses ... and their boardrooms. By David Malizia of Westshore Capital Partners. First Quarter 2008

A Director's Dilemma--It is hard to know when simply raising questions, and eyebrows, has become insufficient. By William G. Bowen of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Second Quarter 2008

Requisite Mindsets for Good Governing--Answering the question of why some boards add value while others fritter away their time, talent, and energy. By Michael Kipp of GovernBest. Third Quarter 2008

The Heart of the Matter--Good governance depends on good relationships between management and board. Sounds simple and straightforward? It's not. By Diana McLain Smith of Monitor Group. Fourth Quarter 2008

Board Performance

Boards Think They're Doing a Good Job ... but CEOs Disagree--What can directors do to bridge that disconnect? By Keith Meyer and Robert Rollo of Heidrick & Struggles. Second Quarter 2008

Does BBR render CGR and CGI DOA?--Or, no matter what the evidence, is it all CYA? Corporate governance indices come under critique. By columnist Hoffer Kaback. Second Quarter 2008

Board Practices

Roundtable: Director Term Limits Come Up for Review--Gathered under the auspices of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, experts tackle some thorny topics concerning board tenure: How long before directors get stale or too complacent? Are term limits a necessity or a hindrance to board performance? How useful (or useless) are director evaluations? And, what should be done about 'duds' on the board? Second Quarter 2008

Essential Underpinnings--A remembrance: Dayton Hudson's corporate governance--maybe not the 'ideal' model, but certainly principles worthy of emulation. By Kenneth Macke (In Memoriam). Third Quarter 2008

Our Man in Governance--An appreciation: Lead columnist Hoffer Kaback at the decade mark in filing provocative dispatches on board practices ... and malpractices. Annual Report 2008

A Classic Model of Onboarding--Right from the start, reap the full value of the expertise and leadership that made the new director such an attractive candidate in the first place. By John Gardner and Lee Hanson of Heidrick & Struggles. Third Quarter 2008

CEO Development and Evaluation

Two Outrageous Tales of Outsourcing--Hiring outsiders to evaluate executives sets a new high standard for buck-passing. By columnist Gary Sutton. First Quarter 2008

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee Recharged--What is being asked of the committee this year challenges the traditional distinction...