Despite the occasional anecdote about a director vowing never to join another public company board, experienced directors are not fleeing boards in droves. Yet, one could be forgiven for assuming that at least a few directors are asking if board service is still worth it, in light of the sky-high expectations on them, the significantly greater time demand and the challenge of keeping up with the dizzying pace of business.
Several forces have converged to make board service more complex and challenging today:
New regulatory requirements. The global financial crisis and isolated business scandals have renewed focus on board governance and, in some places, led to new governance rules and requirements. Regulations differ by country and region, but many of the new requirements center on a few areas: board composition, director qualifications, executive compensation and risk management. While it may be too soon to know the impact of regulatory changes on board composition and operations, some directors fear that the balance of the new governance rules “is tipping from substance to form, and regulation has now tipped to incompetent intrusion.”
See full Press Release.
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