Tapping the strategic potential of boards

Most boards have about six to eight meetings a year and are often hard pressed to get beyond compliance-related topics to secure the breathing space needed for developing strategy. When the authors recently surveyed board members to learn where they'd most like to spend additional time, two out...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The McKinsey quarterly 2013-01 (1), p.91
Main Authors: Bhagat, Chinta, Hirt, Martin, Kehoe, Conor
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Boards of directors
Meetings
Polls & surveys
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Most boards have about six to eight meetings a year and are often hard pressed to get beyond compliance-related topics to secure the breathing space needed for developing strategy. When the authors recently surveyed board members to learn where they'd most like to spend additional time, two out of three picked strategy. A related finding was that 44% of directors said their boards simply reviewed and approved management's proposed strategies. On why such limited engagement, one likely reason is an expertise gap: only 10% of the directors they surveyed felt that they fully understood the industry dynamics in which their companies operated. As a result, only 21% of them claimed to have a complete understanding of the current strategy. Developing strategy has always been complex -- and becomes more so with a board's increased involvement, which introduces new voices and expertise to the debate and puts pressure on management teams and board members alike to find the best answers.
ISSN:0047-5394