The Handbook of Board Governance, 2nd Edition

17Corporate Governance to Advance Business and Society

Alice Korngold

President and CEO, Korngold Consulting LLC; and Author, A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems…Where Governments Cannot

Introduction

Natural disasters due to climate change, the growth of violence and terrorism in volatile regions, the increasing scarcity of food and water, the rise of wealth inequality, and the spread of deadly disease are expected to continue to threaten lives, property, and prosperity in the twenty-first century. Only multinational corporations have the vast resources, global footprint, and incentives of the marketplace to find solutions to the world's greatest social, environmental, and economic challenges. Importantly, the responsibility to ensure that companies and their management drive innovation to address global problems lies squarely with boards of directors.

This chapter will show how boards of public companies can fulfill their duty of maximizing shareholder value only by embracing business strategies that improve social, environmental, and economic conditions. The chapter will describe how boards and CEOs can lead the way by integrating global problem-solving into the corporate mission and strategy. The two distinguishing features of effective boards are board composition and focus, as explored in this chapter.

In spite of the power of business to tackle the world's greatest challenges, it has become particularly evident in the past few years that ...