Sometimes a seemingly simple hiring decision can rock the status quo. That is precisely what happened last month when the U.S. Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals issued a brief announcement about its appointment of a new president.
Normally, few people outside the orbit of a trade body would care much who occupies its executive office. But the Society’s surprise decision to tap Ken Bertsch as chief executive is of a different magnitude. We think it should be read as a big strategic play to recast relations between public corporations and investors.
Why? First, step back for a moment to ...