The bear will soon visit your garden

Independent directors must look for patterns in reports of disputes and business surprises

Readers of my last three articles in this column (September 13, August 29 and July 5) have asked for an example to illustrate my point that independent directors (IDs) can and should act on signals rather than wait for a crisis to crack open. I had suggested a 5C sequence — consideration of the signals, mutual consultation, counselling, coaching, and confronting.

Public reports of disputes and business surprises distract company managements. They also dilute the confidence of investors, lenders and the ecosystem. Recall what happened with Infosys during the unfortunate sparring of 2016-17, with Ranbaxy when Dinesh Thakur spoke up