The Handbook of Board Governance, 2nd Edition

13Board Succession, Evaluation, and Recruitment: A Global Perspective

Jakob Stengel LLM

Managing Partner at Case Rose|InterSearch; Global Head of Board Practice, InterSearch; and Founder and Chairman of Board Network, The Danish Professional Directors Association

Introduction

There has never been a greater focus on corporate boards than what we see today; from how they are composed over the influence they carry to how they perform, attention is attracted from politicians, public authorities, media, investors, and all the rest of the business environment.

Global financial turmoil followed by corporate scandals and investor activism are all ingredients which have put further pressure on time spent on boards, on the individual contributions to the board and the overall performance by the board, and what that means to the company in question.

The number of operational activities and the details of these with which the board is expected to be familiar are growing rapidly. Directors' responsibilities are expanding and the implied liabilities are being scrutinized in an increasingly litigious environment.

Take all this—and add the exponentially growing haste in technology innovation, business model development and shortened supply chains that our businesses are facing—and you have the new paradigm that corporate boards all have to acknowledge and deal with.

Predictability has been replaced by exponentiality and disruption. All businesses are now facing the challenge of trying to navigate ...