Boards at Work

Boards of directors are coming under increasing scrutiny in terms of ther contribution in monitoring and controlling management, particularly in the wake of high-profile corporate frauds and failures, and also in terms 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 title 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.

Review from previous edition a valuable work for those who study corporate governance, This work would provide a useful primer for anyone studying the subject, This book is comprehensive and a must read for those who wish to be up to date and are committed to improving board performance ... The conclusion section provides useful advice for board members who want to check how well they are doing against current thinking ... Stiles and Taylor have shown remarkable ability to deal with the complexities of boards at work.

Philip Stiles is a Lecturer and Senior Research Associate at the Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge. He is a member of the Centre for Corporate Leadership and Accountability at Cambridge and is researching into a number of areas including board dynamics, the Chief Executive succession process, and the relationship between both institutional and private investors and the organization.Bernard Taylor is Executive Director of the Centre for Board Effectiveness and Emeritus Professor of Strategic Management at Henley Management College. He is Director of the European Council on Corporate Strategy and Senior Adviser to the European Council on Corporate Governance and Direction for the Conference Board Europe.