Boards That Deliver: Advancing Corporate Governance From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

Chapter Eight

The Right Strategy

On many boards, directors are frustrated that a basic question about company strategy is not answered to their satisfaction: How will the company grow profitably, with the efficient use of capital, on a sustainable basis? At the same time, many CEOs are frustrated that their boards keep revisiting the question, even after management has gone to great lengths to answer it. Such fundamental disconnects between and among the directors and management inevitably lead to missed opportunities for the board to add value.

Why is strategy such a source of angst? Primarily because of how and when strategy gets discussed. Most boards discuss strategy piecemeal over a series of meetings, often at the tail end of discussions. ...