How CEOs can engage boards to become strategic assets

Q4 Business, Management and Accounting

Strategy and Leadership Pub Date : 2020-04-11 DOI:10.1108/sl-02-2020-0024

Benjamin Finzi, Vincent Firth, Maureen Bujno, K. Lu

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Abstract

Purpose The authors suggest ways CEOs can orchestrate their relationship with their board to optimize its potential to become a strategic asset for the company, as distinct from its more traditional role as overseer of management. Design/methodology/approach To better understand how CEOs can actively engage their boards to make them become strategic assets, the authors conducted research involving more than 50 conversations with Fortune 1,000 CEOs, board chairs, directors, academics and external board advisors to ask them to share their experience and perspectives. Findings The challenge for both CEOs and boards is to fight the natural tendency to evade confrontations or smooth things over, rather than harness conflict to achieve higher-value decisions. Practical implications CEOs can also model confident transparency for their executive teams and send a strong signal that it is okay to share information about work in progress with the board even if it is not finalized. Originality/value The stakes have never been higher for CEOs as they are expected to manage, make sense of and take advantage of unprecedented levels of ambiguity and uncertainty. To help do this, they need board members who are fully engaged and willing and able to prod, push, challenge and champion–to work with their CEOs to get to better insight and decisions.

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首席执行官如何让董事会成为战略资产

目的作者提出了首席执行官如何协调他们与董事会的关系，以优化董事会成为公司战略资产的潜力，这与更传统的管理监督角色不同。设计/方法/方法为了更好地了解首席执行官如何积极参与董事会，使其成为战略资产，作者进行了一项研究，与《财富》1000强的首席执行官、董事会主席、董事、学者和外部董事会顾问进行了50多次对话，请他们分享自己的经验和观点。发现CEO和董事会面临的挑战是克服逃避对抗或缓和事态的自然倾向，而不是利用冲突来实现更高价值的决策。实际含义CEO们还可以为他们的执行团队树立自信的透明度模型，并发出一个强烈的信号，即即使没有最终确定，也可以与董事会分享正在进行的工作的信息。独创性/价值CEO们的风险从未如此之高，因为他们被期望管理、理解和利用前所未有的模糊性和不确定性。为了帮助做到这一点，他们需要充分参与、愿意并能够激励、推动、挑战和支持的董事会成员——与他们的首席执行官合作，以获得更好的洞察力和决策。

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来源期刊

Strategy and Leadership Business, Management and Accounting-Strategy and Management

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

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