This report shares first-hand insights from leading board directors, CEOs, and subject matter experts, along with a series of tools that boards can use to create their own playbook for success rather than defaulting to conventional governance approaches that may not serve their specific long-term objectives.
Over time, the company’s competitive environment will undoubtedly change, and the board and management will need to adapt their strategy to thrive. Rather than running the same play, organizations that thrive over extended periods develop differentiated governance models that align with their specific strategy and adapt as circumstances evolve.
But while directors and executives broadly acknowledge the importance of strategic alignment, our research finds that many companies have not achieved it. The most effective boards calibrate their orientation across three critical dimensions:
- Strategic Time Horizon: Aligning board perspectives with the company’s investment cycles and growth trajectory
- Risk-Growth Balance: Establishing an appropriate equilibrium between opportunity pursuit and risk management
- Board-Management Relationship: Structuring governance to provide both partnership and appropriate oversight
Successful boards must balance “playing offense” (investing in growth and pursuing strategic opportunities) with “playing defense” (ensuring risk oversight and maintaining operational stability). In this regard, as one executive noted to us in the writing of this report, “Every board is out of balance one way or the other.” And so, every company needs a playbook that meets its unique circumstances.
This publication offers a way to craft that playbook, and to help company directors establish strategic, differentiated, long-term governance, drawing on perspectives and examples from public and private companies around the world:
The Board Playbook: Winning Strategies for Long-Term Value Creation
