Latest news with #InstituteofDirectors
The Citizen
03-07-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Mpumalanga Men's Conference encourages leadership
In a dazzling event, the fourth instalment of the Mpumalanga Men's Conference 2025, dubbed Night of the Kings, took place at the Emnotweni Arena on Saturday, June 28. The event is dedicated to empowering men across generations to lead with purpose, character and clarity. It was hosted under the theme, 'Experience the man that you are', and brought together trailblazers, navigators and emerging leaders. This year's keynote address was delivered by Dr Reuel Khoza, a distinguished thought leader, businessman, Africanist and president of the Institute of Directors in South Africa. Other speakers included healthcare practitioner Dr Chris Zungu and Percy Ingle, who served as conversation leaders. ALSO READ: Unlocking women's economic power: G20 tackles unpaid work Zungu focused on men's health and grooming, highlighting the importance of hygiene. 'It is important for men to maintain good personal hygiene. Neglecting proper hygiene can lead to infections, which may be difficult and time-consuming to treat,' he said. Zungu added that a key challenge is men not completing their prescribed treatment. 'We tend to give up too easily and don't take our medication as prescribed.' ALSO READ: Business seminar uplifts youth in Pienaar Since its inception, the event has been powered by Nedbank. Dr Eric Khumalo has played a pivotal role in launching and hosting Night of the Kings. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Irish Examiner
25-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Majority of company directors expect improved financial performance in second half of 2025
Despite geopolitical turmoil and mounting international trade tensions, more than half of company directors in Ireland expect an improved financial performance in the second half of 2025, a new survey shows. The survey was conducted on 322 business directors by the Institute of Directors (IoD) focusing on areas such as regulation, competitiveness, and the economic outlook. The survey found that 53% of business leaders expect improved financial performance in the second half of 2025. However, 43% feel more pessimistic about the overall prospects of the economy. In terms of risks to their business for the rest of the year, 51% cited economic and fiscal pressures, while 42% cited international trade tensions. Geopolitical risks to the supply chain were cited by 28% of people. Of the directors who believe that international trade tensions will be the greatest risk to Irish business for the remainder of the year, 54% believe that it will lead companies to reduce discretionary spending and investment while 48% said they expect consumers to delay spending decisions. In particular, when respondents were asked about the potential impact of the proposed US tariff rates on EU goods and services, 43% said they expect a negative effect on their organisation's competitiveness and business development while 32% stated it was too soon to tell. IoD Ireland CEO Caroline Spillane said there is a 'sense of cautious optimism' among company directors regarding the near-term outlook, however, there are 'significant concerns about the impact of global trade tensions and increasing regulatory pressures'. When asked what would be the main drivers for growth, 42% of directors said enhancement of products and services, while 38% said improvements to their customer or client experience and engagement, and 33% said digital transformation and innovation. Lower on the list of priorities included becoming a sustainable business, accounting for just 10% of respondents. The directors surveyed all represent a wide range of businesses as well as State or semi-State bodies, not-for-profit organisations, SMEs, and multinationals. When asked about how important AI is for future business competitiveness, 40% of respondents said that is important for improving operational efficiency, while 25% believed that it is critical for staying ahead of competitors. Read More Ireland facing sand and gravel shortage due to planning delays, industry warns
Otago Daily Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Leading the leaders; changing times for directors
How times have changed. When Kirsten (KP) Patterson was appointed chief executive of the Institute of Directors (IoD) eight years ago, one of the very first issues she encountered was a conversation around whether climate change was a governance issue. Now the IoD-hosted initiative Chapter Zero NZ — which is part of a global climate governance initiative that spans 50 countries and is focused on supporting directors to take action on climate change at a board level — has nearly 3000 members. Ms Patterson was in Dunedin this week to speak about ethics at an IoD Otago-Southland branch event, and to attend its annual chartered member and fellows dinner where — alongside Ranfurly-based director Dawn Sangster — she spoke about governance and leadership. Both women were made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit in this year's New Year's Honours for their services to governance and women. The level of change happening in the world — which was impacting all organisations, whether not-for-profits or listed companies — was so broad, and boards had to be across that complexity and breadth of issues, Ms Patterson said. As chairwoman of the Global Network of Directors Institutes, she had the opportunity to see the global trends via the more than 20 countries represented in that organisation. Not surprisingly, the big issues at present included geopolitics, trade and globalisation, but the approaches to those challenges from different countries and industry groups was quite different. Cybersecurity was the number one issue keeping directors awake at night but, in New Zealand, where IoD members were surveyed each year, that was not in the top three. The big issue coming through very clearly here was economic conditions, then there was also climate change and culture. New Zealand was the first country in the world to introduce laws around climate-related financial reporting and a lot of focus and attention had been put into the issue. While cybersecurity was not hitting that top three of major issues — although it would be for some boards and industries — she would like to see more focus from boards on it. Boards also needed to lean into the conversation around ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the IoD had developed nine principles to help boards to ethically adopt and effectively use AI. Ms Patterson is chairwoman of the Brian Picot Ethical Leadership advisory board at Victoria University. There was specific research in ethics, particularly in the business space, and it was great to have snapshots of what was happening, she said. While there were lots of conversations about purpose and values, there were still not enough organisations having conversations about ethics, she believed. Governance was critical, whether it was for sports clubs or corporates, involving people being relied on to come together and make judgements and choices. The space had changed. For things that were known and certain, for which there were answers, then management would take care of that. Boards were left with the "tricky stuff". Governance provided intellectual stimulation. It required curiosity and a lot of different skills to bring diversity of thought. That was what she loved about IoD communities which were diverse — much more than what people might think — and there were some great people coming through the governance pipeline, she said. "I genuinely believe the difference between whether you're building yourself a job as business owner or building something you could sell is about governance. The business needs to be able to live after you and continue after you," she said. Workload for directors was surveyed by the IoD, and that had peaked around the Covid-19 pandemic. There had been an increase in the hours involved which included work outside board meetings, whether that was the likes of site visits and engaging with staff, or engaging with stakeholders. Boards were much more visible now and, because of the complexity of issues, the amount of learning and thinking and preparation required was greater. It was not about just reading the board papers on the plane on the way to a meeting, she said. Using a sporting analogy, Ms Patterson said boards were a team sport. Directors like Dunedin's Trish Oakley, recently elected national president of IoD, were individual high performing athletes who were training at home. Then those athletes came together to perform as a team. It was an exciting time to be involved in with governance. While directors needed to be comfortable with risk and responsibility, there was an opportunity to see inside so many different organisations and help shape their strategy, culture and framework — "and New Zealand's better off for it", she said.
Scoop
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Fifth Year In A Row Of Equal Gender Representation On Public Sector Boards
Minister for Women For the fifth consecutive year, women's representation on public sector boards and committees has reached 50 percent or above, with women now holding 52.1 percent of public sector board roles, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. Ms Grigg announced the results of the 2024 stocktake of gender and ethnic diversity on public sector boards and committees at an Institute of Directors event on Wednesday. 'I am delighted to see that women's representation in public sector governance remains strong, and that women also continue to be well-represented in Board chair positions – at 44.5 percent. 'We know that having more women in leadership not only brings about greater diversity but is better for business with a positive impact on financial performance and better decision making.' Ms Grigg says that Māori and ethnic diversity on public sector boards has also increased since collection of ethnicity data began in 2019. 'There are many great women leaders in New Zealand who have achieved amazing things. A big part of what we need to do now is inspire the next generation of leaders, and this includes identifying, supporting, and growing future generations of women in governance. 'This is a great achievement, but the work is not done. It's taken a deliberate and coordinated effort to achieve this result, and we continue to focus on ensuring we have gender-balanced boards appointed on merit that result in better governance practices, decision-making and financial performance and, ultimately, better outcomes for New Zealanders.'
Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Times
UK business confidence is rising but it's not party time just yet
Something curious and rather unexpected is happening. Two prominent surveys of UK business confidence, published in recent days, show that optimism is rising strongly. At a time when firms have just been clobbered with a big increase in national insurance (NI), that is something of a surprise. Yet, sure enough, Lloyds Bank's business barometer showed an 11-point rise in May to its highest level for nine months, with optimism about the economy up by 16 points. Nine of the UK's 12 regions and nations reported stronger business confidence, the survey showed, with the biggest rises being in Northern Ireland, the East Midlands and the South-West, and significant gains also in Wales and Yorkshire & the Humber. The Institute of Directors (IoD) also revealed a strong rise in confidence for last month, with its main measure rising by 16 points, also to the highest since August last year. Firms are concerned about higher employment taxes but slightly less than they were, and worries about the economic outlook have abated to an extent. Investment intentions and export prospects both showed an improvement. It is not yet party time, and confidence remains below where it was at the time of last summer's general election. But as Anna Leach, chief economist at the IoD, puts it: 'It's good to see a recovery in business confidence under way, with our headline measure moving up three months in a row.' At Lloyds Commercial Banking, senior economist Hann-Ju Ho said: 'The rebound in business confidence suggests that firms might be in a stronger position for the next quarter. The rise in confidence is driven by a sharp increase in economic optimism, reflecting the recovery in financial markets amid the easing of global trade tensions.' Firms have had plenty to worry about in recent months, including those higher taxes but also, most notably, the threat of a global trade war, triggered by America's lurch towards the most protectionist policies since the 1930s. President Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs, unveiled on April 2, confirmed the worst fears of many businesses. The recovery in confidence in the past few weeks is thus mainly a reflection of the fact that business people decided those worst fears were perhaps not justified. Not only did Trump announce a 90-day pause in most of the tariffs, he or his negotiators reached an accommodation with China on lower tariff rates, for now at least. US tariffs on imports from China were reduced from 145 to 30 per cent. Not only that, the British government signed a trade deal with America, as well as a 'reset' deal with the European Union and a new deal with India. Things, it seemed, were not so bleak after all and a descent into the abyss had been avoided. Except, of course, we are dealing with a US president whose love for tariffs appears to know no bounds, notwithstanding the fact that they will badly damage the US economy, hit American consumers hard and are the biggest current threat to the global economy. The perception that Trump will always draw back when the extent of the damage becomes apparent or when he is forced into it by the treasury market — the market for US government bonds — has not just buoyed UK business confidence. It helps explain why America's S&P 500 equity market index is up nearly 20 per cent from its lows in the wake of the April 2 tariff announcement. On Wall Street, as you may know, they have an acronym for this, Taco (Trump always chickens out) and I had to admire the reporter who put this to him during an Oval Office press conference, prompting a long, hurt and somewhat confused response. We know, however, that Trump can do and say some stupid things without provocation and the risk is that the 'Taco' label, now he knows about it, is like poking a hornets' nest. Within days, in a speech in Pittsburgh, he announced a doubling of steel and aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent. A defeat for his 'state of emergency' general tariffs in the US Court of International Trade appears only to have emboldened him. The tariff danger is not yet over. It is not, of course, the only danger. With the UK government's public expenditure review looming, businesses are only too aware that all the pressure is for higher spending, not lower taxes. Curbing winter fuel payments was never going to save much money, so a U-turn on that is more of a political than an economic issue. Taken together with pressure to scrap the two-child benefit cap and reverse cuts in disability benefits, however, it starts to add up to real money. An even bigger issue is defence spending, and the hole in this week's strongly worded strategic defence review — the question of where the extra cash is coming from to pay for Britain's enhanced needs — is big enough to be seen from outer space. Some firms will benefit from higher defence spending, and the government has emphasised the potential economic benefits, but others will fear that they have to pick up the bill. At a time when the public finances are already under pressure, even with the big increase in employer NI announced last year and implemented in April, businesses have reason to be worried. They can take comfort from the prime minister's comment this week that you can't tax your way to economic growth and, to a lesser extent, Rachel Reeves's assurances that she would not be repeating last year's big tax-raising budget this autumn. Such assurances only go so far, however, particularly when taken alongside the chancellor's apparent determination to avoid direct tax increases on 'working people'. Businesses will be hoping that history does not repeat itself and that any action to fix the public finances can be delayed. Who knows, maybe by then the 'growth fairy' will have come along and waved her magic wand. But when it comes to tax, firms have learnt not to rely on fairy tales.
