Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Training Course – Madrid, 16–27 Aug 2027

Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs is a 2-week training course for company secretaries, corporate affairs directors and board members who shape how a board works and how the organisation speaks to investors, communities and public authorities, and it ends with a Board and Stakeholder Engagement Blueprint. Activist shareholders, social media scrutiny and expanding disclosure demands now test boards in public. Jupiter Prime Training runs this course on executive governance and corporate affairs for senior leaders.

Why Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Matters Now

Three audiences now press on boards at once. Institutional investors and proxy advisers vote against directors when board composition, pay or sustainability reporting fall short. Employees, customers and communities judge conduct in real time through social and broadcast media. Public authorities expect early, credible engagement on policy that affects licences to operate. Organisations whose board agenda and corporate affairs strategy move together keep trust and room to act; those that treat them separately face contested votes, reputational crises and lost influence. The course draws on the COSO Enterprise Risk Management (COSO ERM) framework for board oversight of strategic and reputational exposure.

Who Gains Most from Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs

• Company secretaries who run board calendars, minutes, charters and director induction
• Corporate affairs directors who lead reputation, media, government relations and community engagement
• Non-executive and executive directors who chair or sit on board committees
• Investor relations heads who manage shareholder dialogue, results communication and voting outcomes
• Sustainability and public policy leads who represent the organisation to external stakeholders

Organisations gain most when the company secretary and the corporate affairs director attend together, because the board's agenda and the external narrative are then designed as one.

Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Capabilities

Participants connect what happens inside the boardroom with what investors, media and public authorities see, so that decisions, disclosures and reputation reinforce one another.

• Assess board composition, skills and independence against strategy — nomination committee and chair
• Design committee mandates and annual board calendars that cover principal decisions — company secretary and board
• Build stakeholder maps that rank interest, influence and expectations — corporate affairs and executive committee
• Specify a disclosure policy for material information and market announcements — investor relations and legal counsel
• Communicate the organisation's position on contested public issues with a consistent narrative — chief executive and media spokespeople
• Apply board evaluation methods and turn findings into an improvement plan — chair and senior independent director

Key Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Terms

• Board evaluation — a structured assessment of how the board, its committees and individual directors perform against agreed criteria.
• Corporate affairs — the function that manages reputation, media, government relations, community engagement and internal communication.
• Stakeholder materiality — the degree to which an issue matters both to stakeholders and to the organisation's long-term performance.
• Continuous disclosure — the practice of releasing price-sensitive information to the market promptly and equally to all investors.
• Licence to operate — the ongoing acceptance of an organisation's activities by communities, authorities and other stakeholders.
• Matters reserved for the board — the list of decisions that only the full board may take rather than management.

Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Day by Day

Day 1: The Board in a Scrutinised Environment

• Stakeholder Pressure Scan — Investors, Media, Employees And Public Authorities
• Governance Failure Cases In Telecoms And Utilities — Comparing Root Causes
• Shareholder And Stakeholder Models — Defining Whom The Board Serves
• COSO ERM Board Oversight Role — Strategic And Reputational Exposure
• Governance Self-Diagnostic — Benchmarking Current Board Practices

Day 2: Board Composition and Effectiveness

• Board Skills Matrix — Matching Director Capabilities To Strategy
• Independence Criteria — Judging Objectivity Of Non-Executive Directors
• Chair And Chief Executive Roles — Separating Leadership Of Board And Business
• Succession Planning For Directors — Avoiding Gaps And Entrenchment
• Director Induction Packs — Speeding Up New Member Contribution

Day 3: Committees and the Board Calendar

• Matters Reserved For The Board — Separating Board And Management Decisions
• Nomination, Remuneration And Audit Committee Terms Of Reference — Defining Scope
• Annual Board Calendar — Scheduling Strategy, Risk And Performance Items
• Board Paper Standards — Executive Summaries And Decision Requests
• Minutes And Action Logs — Evidencing Challenge And Follow-Through

Day 4: The Company Secretary as Governance Adviser

• Company Secretary Mandate — Independence And Reporting Lines
• Statutory And Listing Obligations Register — Tracking Filing Deadlines
• Conflicts And Related Party Transactions — Recording And Approving Interests
• Board Portal And Records Management — Securing Confidential Papers
• General Meeting Planning — Notices, Resolutions And Voting Procedures

Day 5: Stakeholder Engagement Strategy

• Stakeholder Mapping By Interest And Influence — Prioritising Engagement Effort
• Materiality Assessment — Selecting Issues For Board Attention
• Engagement Plans For Communities And Employees — Building Two-Way Dialogue
• Family Shareholder Councils — Governing Owner Relations In Family Groups
• Feedback Loops To The Board — Reporting Stakeholder Views Into Decisions

Day 6: Corporate Reputation

• Reputation Drivers Model — Conduct, Performance, Leadership And Citizenship
• Reputation Tracking Surveys And Media Monitoring — Measuring Perception
• Issues Management Process — Anticipating Emerging Controversies
• Crisis Communication Protocols — Spokespeople, Holding Statements And Timing
• Social Media Escalation Rules — Responding Without Amplifying

Day 7: Public Affairs and Government Relations

• Policy Horizon Mapping — Tracking Legislation That Affects The Business
• Position Papers And Consultation Responses — Shaping Public Policy Ethically
• Government Relations Code Of Conduct — Transparency And Integrity Safeguards
• Coalition And Industry Association Strategy — Choosing Collective Voices
• Licence To Operate Assessment — Judging Community And Authority Acceptance

Day 8: Disclosure and Investor Relations

• Disclosure Policy And Committee — Deciding What Is Material And When
• Results Communication Cycle — Earnings Releases, Calls And Roadshows
• Shareholder Register Analysis — Understanding Who Owns The Company
• Proxy Adviser And Voting Engagement — Preparing For Contested Resolutions
• Sustainability Reporting Narrative — Aligning Claims With Evidence

Day 9: Board Evaluation and Accountability

• Board Evaluation Methods — Questionnaires, Interviews And External Review
• Individual Director Feedback — Handling Sensitive Performance Conversations
• Executive Remuneration Oversight — Linking Pay To Long-Term Value
• Board Culture Indicators — Openness, Challenge And Decision Quality
• Evaluation Action Plan — Turning Findings Into Agreed Improvements

Day 10: Practising the Board and Stakeholder Engagement Blueprint

• Applying The Skills Matrix — Reshaping A Case Company Board
• Applying Stakeholder Mapping — Prioritising Issues For A Utility
• Applying The Disclosure Policy — Handling A Price-Sensitive Event
• Board Simulation — Debating A Contested Public Issue With Directors
• Board And Stakeholder Engagement Blueprint — Calendar, Mandates And Engagement Plan

Applying Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs After the Course

• Refresh the board skills matrix with the nomination committee chair and identify the two capabilities to prioritise in the next director search.
• Lead a stakeholder materiality session with corporate affairs and investor relations and propose three issues for the next board strategy day.

Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs Questions (FAQ)

What is executive governance and corporate affairs and why does it matter now?

Executive governance and corporate affairs links how the board decides with how the organisation engages investors, media, communities and public authorities. It matters now because boards are scrutinised publicly and quickly, and misaligned decisions and messages damage trust.

Which roles gain most from executive governance and corporate affairs training?

Company secretaries, corporate affairs directors and board members gain most, together with investor relations and public policy leads who carry the organisation's voice to shareholders and authorities.

How does executive governance and corporate affairs differ from a GRC integration course?

Executive governance and corporate affairs focuses on board effectiveness, reputation, disclosure and stakeholder engagement. A GRC integration course concentrates on aligning risk, compliance and internal audit assurance inside the organisation rather than on external relationships.

What do you bring back from executive governance and corporate affairs training?

You bring back a blueprint covering the board calendar, committee mandates and a stakeholder engagement plan. It also includes a skills matrix, disclosure policy outline and evaluation action plan you can adapt for your board.

Executive Governance and Corporate Affairs: The Way Forward

The Board and Stakeholder Engagement Blueprint first informs how next year's board calendar allocates time between strategy, risk and stakeholder issues. The company secretary owns it with the chair, while corporate affairs uses it to plan engagement. After its first use, revisit the materiality ranking, because public debate can move an issue from peripheral to urgent within months.