Blackberry 2010 Annual Report Download - page 55

RECOMMENDATION RESPONSE
Stakeholder Communications: This recommendation has been
accepted and has been addressed. The Board believes that
stakeholderswhowishtocommunicatewiththeBoardarecurrently
able to do so. The term “stakeholders” encompasses a wide variety of
constituents, including employees and shareholders, and one set of
practices in this area will not suit all situations. As part of its review of
the Board mandate contemplated in its response to recommendation 5 (a)
(Corporate Governance Guidelines), the Board will indicate in the mandate
how stakeholders can currently contact the Board and will publicize the
Board mandate on the Company’s external website. The Board will
continue to evaluate best methods for interacting with stakeholders.
8. Strategy
The Company’s strategic plan should be approved by the strategic
planning committee, and ultimately by the full board on an annual
basis. The mandate of the board should be revised to include its
responsibility for approval of the strategic plan, as outlined in
National Policy 58-201, Corporate Governance Guidelines.
Sufficient time should be allocated for discussion and review of the
plan by the strategic planning committee and the board, as well as to
oversee on a continuous basis the progress made by management in
pursuit of the Company’s strategic objectives in a rapidly changing
business environment.
This recommendation has been accepted and has been addressed.
Since the inception of the SP Committee, all members of the Board have
attended and participated in meetings of the SP Committee during which
management and the SP Committee discuss and put forward strategic
initiatives for the Company. Although the Board as a whole has not formally
voted on the strategic initiatives, all Board members have been present and
have participated in discussions concerning strategic initiatives.
The Board believes that, while it has had sufficient involvement and
oversight of the Company’s strategic initiatives, as part of its review of
the Board mandate contemplated in its response to recommendation 5 (a)
(Corporate Governance Guidelines), the Board will update the mandate to
reflect its responsibility for approval of the Company’s strategic initiatives.
9. Corporate Policy Framework
The board should oversee the establishment of a comprehensive
corporate policy framework ensuring that corporate policies or
policy statements are developed to govern all the major risks and
critical business activities of the organization. The board should
review the corporate policy framework and approve corporate
policies with periodic review and re-affirmation.
This recommendation has been accepted and has been addressed.
The Board believes that the Company has appropriate comprehensive
policies and procedures in place to govern major risks and critical
business activities of the Company. The Company’s business
standards and principles policies are reviewed annually by the
Board and supplemented and updated as circumstances warrant.
The business standards and principles policies include a code of
ethics; handling financial complaints guidelines; employee
confidentiality and intellectual property agreement; insider trading
policy; diversity guidelines; anti-discrimination & anti-harassment
guidelines; anti-bullying & anti-violence guidelines; corporate security
policy; global, environment, health & safety policy; corporate disclosure
policy; and prevention of improper payments policy. The Company
and Board continue to monitor regulatory and other developments and
implement new policies and amend existing policies in response to
these developments. In addition to policies and procedures, the
Company has other mechanisms in place to monitor and address
major risks and business activities, including those discussed in
response to recommendation 10 immediately below (Risk Oversight)
and a Corporate Disclosure Committee comprised of senior executives.
In addition to the foregoing, in connection with the expanded mandate
of the Risk & Compliance Council outlined above, the Council will from
time to time review the current corporate policy framework in light of
the Company’s existing major areas of risk and business activities
with a view to updating existing, and implementing new, corporate
policies as appropriate. The Board and the A&RM Committee will have
oversight of this effort using the quarterly reporting mechanisms
noted above.
MD&A
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