"Firms in the last four to five years increased debt significantly, mainly to repurchase stock so they can provide it to managers and employees," he said.

The policies should be sufficiently detailed to provide clear guidelines to managers and employees alike.

ALI also provides consulting services to investors and managers.

"Equally important is providing training to managers, especially those whose deficient supervisory skills may be causing stress for subordinates."

Subadvised funds can also provide access to managers whose own funds are closed to new investors.

Mr. Weisberg said his office had fielded several calls from dot-coms looking to provide sexual harassment training to managers.

It undermines trust among members and prevents a free flow of advice that board members are paid to provide to corporate managers.

The reason for storing data and keeping it up to date is to provide information to managers for decisions.

When they are not, bonuses "may serve as a discretionary mechanism for providing higher levels of pay to managers," the authors conclude.

Wal-Mart also agreed to train new store managers about compliance with child labor laws and to provide more training to current managers on the subject.