Associate
Criticaleye

Bob is a company director, consultant, and academic working on corporate governance; board and director evaluation and performance, organisational change and strategic thinking issues. He is based in London and consults on five of the six continents. His consulting experience of board and business issues covers organisations from large corporates to family businesses, state-owned enterprises, professional practices, not-for-profits, central governments and local communities.

He helped form the China-EEC Management Programme in Beijing in 1983 (the first Chinese MBA programme), and the ASEAN-EU Management Centre in Brunei Darussalam in 1992. He has worked with many financial services institutions including The International Monetary Fund, Washington, the Public Investment Corporation, South Africa, and for the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority on corporate governance issues for Banking Supervisors and Inspectors. He has made recent lecture tours at Government level on corporate governance and board performance issues to India, South Africa and Australia. He is a Founder Member of The Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance. He leads the Developing Strategic Thought programmes, is on the Board of Examiners and is a time-expired External Examiner of the Institute of Directors, London.

He is a consultant on board evaluation and development issues, Visiting Professor at the Cass Business School, City University, London where his work spans the Centres for Research in Corporate Governance, Leadership, Learning and Change, and Health Management. He is Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Stellenbosch Business School South Africa, and Chairman of its new Unit for Corporate Governance in Africa. He was previously a Visiting Professor at The Tanaka Management School, Imperial College, London, responsible for the board development of the faculty ‘spin out’ companies; and was Senior Associate, The Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge. He is Master of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and a Freeman of The City of London.  He is Past Chairman of the Association for Management Education and Development, and led the management education side of both the Faculty of Management, Ulster College, Belfast, and The Architectural Association School, London. He is an Associate of Criticaleye.

In 2002, he won the Shareholder Value corporate governance essay prize sponsored by the European Business Forum and PwC/IBM; and in 2004, The Academy of Corporate Governance, Hyderabad, Writing Excellence prize.  His books include:  The Fish Rots From The Head:  The Crisis in our Boardrooms (1996 and 2003); Developing Strategic Thought (ed) (1994 and 2003); The Learning Organisation:  Developing Democracy At Work (2000); and Thin On Top: Why Corporate Governance Matters (2003). He is on the Editorial Advisory Boards of  the Journal of Business Studies;  Development and Learning in Organisations;  Action Learning; and Organisations and People.

Our Founders:

Andrew Minton

Charlie Wagstaff

Matthew Blagg

We've all heard the phrase, 'It's lonely at the top'. As chief executives across Criticaleye's Membership tell me, being a leader can be immensely rewarding, but also quite isolating. Who do you turn to when it comes to debating important issues on strategy? And, where can you go for solutions?

Unlike the individuals on the teams you lead, who are more than likely encouraged to share ideas and information, there are few people you can ask for useful and impartial advice. Your staff will expect you to have the answers already and professional advisors are likely to push their own agendas. In addition to this, the immediacy of today's business environment, where advances in technology and communications have intensified the pace of change, has created a world where leaders and directors have to be up-to-date and on-message around the clock.

Criticaleye was created in 2002 with the aim of helping leaders across industry sectors, business functions and geographical locations resolve business issues through peer-to-peer debate and discussion. Our Community works on the premise that business leaders and chief executives  need a safe space to ask questions and discuss solutions without the threat of being held to ransom by employees, stakeholders or the media for not knowing the answer to every problem or challenge that presents itself.

Being part of the Criticaleye Community means a number of things: Access to a managed network of leaders who can offer you fresh perspectives on and solutions to your critical issues. Intimate events on topics that have been generated from within the Community; a dedicated Relationship Manager to monitor your Membership activity and ensure you're getting the most value from it; a seasoned executive or 'Associate' to provide high level advice and ensure you are talking to the right people in the Community. And access to Criticaleye's Insight through an interactive online knowledge portal which is made up of cutting-edge business research, event write-ups, film footage of events and interviews and Community Articles by other Members.

Matthew Blagg, Founder & CEO, Criticaleye