Just what is a CEO looking for from his or her board? What guidance or input are they looking for to take their companies forward?

A veteran technology investor, Glenn Hutchins argues that the failure of Lehman Brothers was the catalytic event that caused "The Panic of '08" and converted an impending recession into a full-blown crisis. He traces the root causes of the crisis to establish that everyone played a role --mortgage lenders, home-owners, bankers and consumers, chief executives and politicians, the mighty Fed and the lowly rating agencies. He explores the implications of the crisis for the US economy and for the US role in the world. Looking ahead, Hutchins argues that entrepreneurship and advances in technology will help lead us out of our current problems.

Even before the economic meltdown, activist investors were going after companies they felt were not doing enough to increase their value and raise share prices. But the downturn has made it even more inviting for activists to challenge companies and seek to place their representatives on the board. At the same time, unions also are seeking to increase their role and are looking for greater say. Such discussions and efforts, of course, put strain on the company, but also on board members as well. In this panel get a view of how boards are or should be reacting and whether more such efforts are in the offing.

Board members have many responsibilities. One of the most crucial is digging into the financial numbers that companies are reporting. Understanding the reports can be crucial to understanding what the company should and should not be doing. Thus it is imperative that board members, especially those on the audit committees, are understanding the changing financial regulatory environment and the issues that are generating the most concern. In this special panel, our auditing experts give their view on what board members should be focused on financially and the questions that they should be asking of their CFOs and the auditors.

Going green. It is a phrase that has been tossed out by countless individuals and companies in recent years as concern about the environment has grown. On the surface the moves to reduce dependence on foreign oil and reduce energy costs look like the proper courses of action. But are some of these actions more trouble than they are worth or costing more money than they are actually saving? Are shareholders seeing benefits? Our panelists discuss talk about the steps that companies are or should be taking and how board members should be looking at them.