There has been a growing interest in the study of boards of directors from a cognitive perspective. A number of studies have now accumulated which suggest that a range of concepts and techniques borrowed from the cognitive sciences offer considerable promises as a means of gaining rich insights into issues and processes which lie at the heart of the field of strategic management and corporate governance.

Understanding Boards of Directors examines why research on corporate governance has been slow and uneven, and where that research should turn next to be most valuable to practitioners. The author traces the history of research on corporate boards and analyzes the trends in that research, including the relative value of the types of data that researchers in this field have used, and ultimately identifying the best path forward in studying these complex social systems.

The board of directors is legally responsible for setting the strategic direction of the firm and for ensuring the firm's long-term performance in almost all governance environments. However, many boards delegate the task of creating and executing the firm's strategy to a group of full-time professional managers. This separation between ownership and control creates many challenges for the modern-day firm, and the board's role in the strategy formation process is arguably the seminal governance challenge confronting boards today. Board Involvement in the Strategic Decision Making Process: A Comprehensive Review examines this seminal challenge.

Explore the interplay between corporate governance and strategic decision-making in this startling new resource In Understanding and Managing Strategic Governance, strategy and management experts Dr. Wei Shi and Robert E. Hoskisson deliver an insightful exploration of the influence that governance actors, like the board of directors, activist investors, institutional investors, and securities analysts, have on important strategic decisions. Based on surveying the latest research and analyzing unique datasets compiled by the authors, the book explains the impact that governance actors have on a firm’s strategic choices and the quality of such choices as well as the unintended consequences of that impact. The authors also describe how executives can manage the conflicting interests of multiple governance actors and leverage the influence of these actors to make effective strategic decisions. In this book, you’ll discover: How to avoid the strategic pitfalls that arise from governance actor influence and harm firms’ long-term competitiveness The effect that governance actors can have on corporate strategy, competitive strategy, corporate innovation strategy, global strategy, stakeholder strategy, and more The latest trends in corporate governance and their implications for managers, regulators, and policy makers in this area Perfect for C-level executives, board of directors, and institutional investors as well as students of corporate governance and strategy, Understanding and Managing Strategic Governance is a revealing and original examination of the interplay between corporate governance and firm strategy and how to manage that interplay to create sustainable competitive advantages.

Boards of directors are coming under increasing scrutiny in terms of their contribution in monitoring and controlling management, particularly in the wake of high-profile corporate frauds and failures, and also their potential to add value to organizational performance through involvement in the strategy process and through building relationships with key investors. Despite the importance of these issues, not only to organizations but also arguably to national competitiveness, the nature of board activity remains largely a black box, clouded by prescriptions, prejudices, and half-truths. This book responds to calls for greater scrutiny of boards of directors with an in-depth examination of directors of UK organizations, drawing on the accounts of directors themselves as to their roles, influence, and the potential and limits to their power. Much work on boards of directors has labelled the board as a rubber stamp for dominant management, and non-executive directors in particular have been variously described as poodles, pet rocks, or parsley on the fish. Such accounts are rooted in assumptions of board activity that are essentially adversarial in nature, and that the solution to the 'problem' of reconciling the interests of managers with those of shareholders is to increase the checks and balances available to the board of directors. The findings of this study show that boards, in many cases, are far more than passive rubber stamps for management and that non-executives are encouraged to act as trusted advisers to the executives and the chief executive, rather than solely monitors of executive activity. Boards are important mechanisms in maintaining the strategic framework of the organization through setting the boundaries of organizational activity. The potential of the board members, in particular the non-executives, to fulfil such a mandate depends on a number of factors, including ability, willingness to engage with the organizational issues, and the degree of knowledge they have relevant to the host firm. Above all, the degree of trust built between members of the board, and between the board and key external constituencies, is at the heart of effective board behaviour.

Is your firm’s board creating value—or destroying it? Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road map—for when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way. Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance model—a sharp departure from what has been demanded by governance activists, raters, and regulators—and reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. Based on personal interviews and the authors’ broad and deep experience working with executives and directors from dozens of the world’s largest firms, including Apple, Boeing, Ford, Infosys, and Lenovo, Boards That Lead tells the inside story behind the successes and pitfalls of this new leadership model and explains how to: • Define the central idea of the company • Ensure that the right CEO is in place and potential successors are identified • Recruit directors who add value • Root out board dysfunction • Select a board leader who deftly bridges the divide between management and the board • Set a high bar on ethics and risk With a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey, and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for businesspeople everywhere—whether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite.

A new framework for helping nonprofit organizations maximize the effectiveness of their boards. Written by noted consultants and researchers attuned to the needs of practitioners, Governance as Leadership redefines nonprofit governance. It provides a powerful framework for a new covenant between trustees and executives: more macrogovernance in exchange for less micromanagement. Informed by theories that have transformed the practice of organizational leadership, this book sheds new light on the traditional fiduciary and strategic work of the board and introduces a critical third dimension of effective trusteeship: generative governance. It serves boards as both a resource of fresh approaches to familiar territory and a lucid guide to important new territory, and provides a road map that leads nonprofit trustees and executives to governance as leadership. Governance as Leadership was developed in collaboration with BoardSource, the premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofit organizations. Through its highly acclaimed programs and services, BoardSource enables organizations to fulfill their missions by helping build effective nonprofit boards and offering credible support in solving tough problems. For the latest in nonprofit governance, visit www.boardsource.org, or call us at 1-800-883-6262.