Reference no: EM132225205

GIBB, Inc (‘GIBB’), a publicly listed company in the United States, is in the travel industry. The company has recently extended the range of its direct operations by acquiring a small airline company for taking customers to holiday destinations throughout the Caribbean. Robert Cole (‘Robert’) is the newly-appointed chairman of GIBB. He is aware that, of the nine-member board of directors, five non-executive directors (NEDs) have all nearly reached the end of their second three-year contract term with the company. Robert is concerned about the quality and effectiveness of the board of directors of GIBB. He thinks that the board may be failing to give the company the strategic leadership that it needs and is worried that the company’s future may have been put into doubt by its failure to develop a system for selling its travel packages online. He suspects that the NEDs have not been sufficiently forceful in challenging the views of the executive management team. He is convinced that urgent measures are required to review the composition of the board, but he is also aware of the need to ensure that any newly-appointed NEDs will require effective introduction into the company. Some of the executive directors, including the chief executive officer (CEO), are also probably in need of training in other areas such as online marketing. Edward Rock, the CEO, has already expressed the view that training will be wasted on him as he plans to retire in the next year or so. Robert has asked you, as company secretary, for your advice. What would you recommend that Robert do with respect to board composition and board training?