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The article discusses gains by activist shareholders at several companies. Restaurant operator Yum Brands Inc., Prudential Financial Inc., and real estate investment company Boston Properties will all permit shareholders with at least a 3% ownership stake to nominate board directors. A decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to stop giving firms permission to block so-called proxy access measures has helped drive the trend.

The article discusses activism on the part of mutual fund managers BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group. BlackRock issued guidelines specifying circumstances under which the company would oppose the re-election of corporate board members. Vanguard has said it expects boards to be independent of company management. Paul Hodgson of consultancy BHJ Partners says both Vanguard and BlackRock can exert large influence through their actions.

The article discusses the growing incidence of firms splitting their chief executive and board chairmanship duties. Between 2007 and 2012 the fraction of Standard & Poor's 500 companies with an independent outside director has increased from 12% to 20%. Credit-ratings firm Moody's Corp. is among firms that have taken the chairman's job away from the chief executive officer in response to shareholder pressure.

The article reports that the directors at HealthSouth Corp. have given assent to a bylaw that would reimburse some of the costs involved with an activist candidate's successful campaign for a seat on the firm's board. Chief executive Jay Grinney said the policy would provide a stronger voice to shareholders who aren't well-funded .

The article reports that shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell PLC rejected an executive compensation plan at a meeting in the Hague. Royal Dutch's board of directors had decided to award bonuses to executives including chief executive Jeroen van der Veer, even though the firm failed to meet performance criteria.

The article reports that activist investors seeking seats on the board of directors of U.S. corporations are finding surprisingly little resistance from company management. Hedge funds and other investors seeking management policy changes once had to anticipate proxy fights. Corporations have come to see such battles as too costly to pursue, and often self-defeating.

The article discusses efforts by chief executive James Dimon of banking company J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. to persuade investors to reject a shareholder proposal that would strip him of Morgan's chairmanship. At a May 14, 2013 meeting with 1,300 technology investors Dimon defended Morgan's corporate governance.