Executive effectiveness at stake in 2010

Potential changes to the US corporate governance landscape due for introduction next year will hinder the effectiveness of executives.

That is according to two strategic communication experts - Clark S Judge and Richard Torrenzano - who suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposals to grant shareholders the right to nominate board members could drastically alter board-level roles.

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, the managing director of White House Writers and the chief executive of The Torrenzano Group explained that if these plans are implemented, executives will be forced to focus on areas previously ignored.

Specifically, the communication experts suggested that all directors of top management - "from the chair of the compensation committee to the strategic-planning committee" - must be available to defend their decisions.

They wrote: "Top executives, no matter how well they run their business, will be forced to mount counter-campaigns to fend off a range of well-funded players with multiple agendas."

Fears of the implementation of "overly-restrictive" governance regulations in the US were also expressed by BYSE Euronext's Commission on Corporate Governance last week.