The role of a board’s corporate governance involves overseeing and advising the company to ensure that it operates lawfully, fairly, and in its shareholders’ and stakeholders’ interests. The boards do this by remaining independent of the management and day-today operations of the business. The board makes sure that the company’s plans for strategic planning align with its legal ethical and financial obligations. It also determines the most significant threats to the company and the best ways to manage them, delegating responsibility for some of these tasks to committees.
A majority of boards have a chair who is accountable for facilitating meetings, maintaining an appropriate atmosphere and setting the agenda. Other responsibilities of the chair include stimulating discussion and debate, and ensuring that important issues are given the attention they deserve. Board secretaries are also essential in organizing board meetings and in preparing the agenda.
Boards are also increasingly involved in issues such as sustainability as well as mergers and acquisitions growth of talent and culture and strategy and risk management. They should also put a strong emphasis on ESG (environmental social and governance) issues that are becoming essential for consumers and investors alike.
To be efficient, a board needs to have the proper structure and have members who possess an array of abilities, knowledge and experience. This means that they have a thorough understanding of the industry in which they operate and how those sectors operate. This is crucial to their ability to challenge and help management, while bringing the company’s strategies in line with evolving investor and consumer expectations.