Increasingly, firms are: •  assessing the collective skills and qualifications of their boards of directors as well as board effectiveness;  •  instituting stand-alone risk committees that are composed only of independent directors and operate with a clear definition of independence;  •  establishing a group-wide chief risk officer (CRO) and risk-management function that is independent from revenue-generating responsibilities; and  •  integrating the discussions among the risk and audit committees through joint meetings or cross-membership.
Talk of the “new economy” faded with the sharp declines in the stock valuations of hightech firms at the turn of the millennium; yet, remarkably, productivity growth continued to rise.