Luke Graves (Luke) is the long-serving Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hornbill plc, a UK listed company. He had a meeting with the newly-appointed Chairman of the company, Ross Plank (Ross), who is married to Luke's si

Some of the recommendations and suggestions regarding the appropriate practices to be followed are- The Chairperson of the board is the individual charged with providing the board with effective leadership on all aspects of its role and setting its agenda. While the chairperson is required to retain an objective viewpoint of the affairs of the company, the CEO is often required to become intimately involved in developing and executing management plans for the company. CEO's main responsibilities include developing and implementing high-level strategies, making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and the corporate operations. This role clarity should be there among the Chairman Ross and CEO Luke in this case. The independence of the chairman is paramount to the successful implementation of good corporate governance practices at board level. Therefore, as a good governance, chairperson of the board should be independent and free of conflicts of interest at appointment. Collective decision making and discussions among the Board is also missing in the Company. It would have been appropriate for Luke to discuss his intentions to establish a strategy committee with the board colleagues before announcing them to a few shareholders. The board as a whole should be responsible for deciding strategy and for deciding whether any new board committee should be set up. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee should consider the selection and re-appointment of Directors and makes its recommendation to the Board. It should assess the current Board's skills, experience and expertise to identify the skills that would best increase Board effectiveness. The responsibility for selection and appointment of directors should be done by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the CEO Luke should not try to influence the Chairman of the board regarding appointment or selection of any particular director. The Chairman or the Nomination and Remuneration Committee should make policy for the induction and training of directors, particularly Non-Executive Directors, although the task of arranging induction and training may be delegated to the company secretary. The CEO may arrange technical training for another executive directors.