Archived Webinar

The Challenge of Building Ethical Corporate Cultures: Lessons from Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett

Overview

  • Event Held On: 9/16/2010

Full Event Description

Join L.J. Rittenhouse, President of Rittenhouse Rankings, a CEO and investor relations advisory company, to discuss the foundations of ethical, principles-based corporate communications. Rittenhouse will show how Warren Buffett’s success is built on the trust he has earned from his shareholder communications and the economic and governance principles that lead to shareholder wealth.

Rittenhouse will also draw on research from her ten-year analysis to quantify CEO candor in letters to shareholders. Using Buffett’s letters as a model, Rittenhouse has measured a sharp decline in CEO candor among 100 of the Fortune 500 companies over the past decade. In addition, her annual surveys “chart a correlation between the candor of a CEO's annual letter to shareholders and the company's stock performance: The more candid assessment of the company in the letter, the better a company's stock performs.” – cnn.com

Join us on September 16th at 10am PST to learn:

  • The principles that foster ethical cultures and superior financial performance
  • Why investor skepticism is a CEO’s best ally
  • What makes candor a competitive advantage
She will answer questions such as:
  • Why should investors and others believe what business leaders say?
  • What does corporate candor look like and why is it feared
Rittenhouse will offer positive and negative examples of shareholder communications from Berkshire Hathaway and other companies to provide realistic standards of corporate candor and ethical behavior. Learning Objectives:
  • Apply the lessons learned from Berkshire Hathaway’s success.
  • Uncover economic assumptions that destroy ethical corporate cultures.
  • Correlate corporate candor with financial performance.
  • Develop standards for ethical C-suite communications.

Speaker Biographies

Laura Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse Rankings

Laura Rittenhouse
President, Rittenhouse Rankings

L. J. Rittenhouse is president of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc, a CEO and investor relations advisory company. Rittenhouse builds programs for large and mid-sized companies that improve internal and external corporate communications and strengthen valuation. She specializes in showing clients how to penetrate corporate blind spots so they can increase efficiency and improve execution. Her contributions to promoting capital stewardship and candor have been recognized by Warren Buffett, Jack Bogle, Jack Welch and other respected business leaders.

Rittenhouse conducts an annual survey of CEO candor and correlates CEO Candor rankings with stock price performance. Her research shows that candor drives superior performance, and companies that consistently strive to promote candor gain competitive advantage and superior valuation.

Rittenhouse is the author of Buffett’s Bites: (McGraw-Hill 2010) and Do Business with People You Can Tru$t, both featured selections at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. A frequent speaker at conferences and corporate retreats, Ms. Rittenhouse has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, BNN and also in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Motley Fool, CNN.com, The IR Alert, and other forums. Tru$t describes how to spot CEOs who damage trust and has been recommended by Barron’s, Directors & Boards Association, and the American Association of Independent Investors.