Are your board members digital technology assets or liabilities?

To successfully compete as a digital enterprise requires that the C-Suite leadership team and the board of directors are fully aligned and committed to the right digital strategy for the company and a game plan to implement. This is virtually impossible to do if the majority of board members are not digitally savvy.

A recent study by the MIT Center for Information Systems Research used machine learning analysis to document that out of 1,233 publicly traded companies with revenues over $1 billion only 24% had board members who were classified as technology experts.

Executive Summary

Board nominating committees frequently cull out board candidates with backgrounds in the military or civil service before fully considering their potential value. This may unfortunately lead to missed opportunities on both sides. This article explores the high value these candidates may represent, as well as many of the underlying issues that may prompt a selection committee to misfire.  A well-prepared selection committee can ask the right questions and bridge the gap.

It is a privilege and an honor to serve on a board.  However, having worked with and served on a variety of boards, I have found that many directors have preconceived notions or expectations of what it means to be a director that may not be in line with their board colleagues and the CEO.  In addition, some CEOs have different expectations of the board’s role than the directors. Without clear expectations, unnecessary conflicts can ensue.

"The only risk that matters to the board is enterprise risk, and the audit committee is accountable for its oversight," Mason declared. Mason is the CEO of a growing middle-market company and the chair of its board of directors. As we continued our conversation, I offered another view:

Chicago, IL (June 13, 2023) — The Private Directors Association, a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence, is pleased to announce that Govenda, a leading provider of best-in-class board portal solutions, has become a National Platinum Sponsor. 

Chicago, IL (April 19, 2023) — The Private Directors Association, a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence, is pleased to announce that WTW has joined as National Sterling Sponsor.

Chicago, IL (March 30, 2023) — The Private Directors Association, a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence, is pleased to announce that KPMG LLP has chosen to become a National Diamond Sponsor.

Chicago, IL (February 7, 2022)—Grant Thornton LLP has become a National Diamond Sponsor of the Private Directors Association (PDA) ― a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence.

Boardrooms are faced with seemingly unending challenges related to cybersecurity oversight. The growing complexity and ever-changing persistent nature of cyber-risk is daunting, seemingly overwhelming, and hard to understand. It can feel like a game of whack-a-mole where plastic creatures randomly pop up from a console only to be “whacked down” by a player with a mallet. The faster the player strikes, the faster the creatures pop up until the game ends and is scored. It can feel entirely defensive and uncontrollable. Few of us understand or care about how whack-a-mole works, what drives the pop-ups, or what resides inside the console which operates the game. After all it’s just a game you can walk away from. Cybersecurity oversight is not.

This article examines fundamentals of risk management and how they differ in application between public and private companies. The final section presents a scalable and actionable risk management framework for private companies.

The Private Directors Association (PDA), a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence, announced that BMO has chosen to become a PDA National Diamond Sponsor.

Today, there are no more excuses to avoid a digital transformation. On the contrary, COVID and competition have highlighted its importance to a company’s growth, regardless of its size. According to Deloitte, for private companies, undertaking a digital transformation is essential to driving value, sustaining long-term business growth, fostering a culture of innovation, driving efficiencies, and ensuring better connectivity with internal and external stakeholders.

Boards are charged with helping companies grow and succeed while ensuring that risks are managed responsibly and effectively. As we reflect on recent trends and significant risk factors at the beginning of 2022, there has been a notable acceleration of risks that were once classified as “emerging.”

Transitioning to a new CEO is always challenging. Doing so in a multigenerational family business is harder. But hiring the first non-family executive to run a family business may be the riskiest type of CEO succession. There are only a few ways for things to go right, but an infinite number of ways for them to go wrong.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics have been around for a long time. Sustainability is ingrained in our social fabric and increasing in importance. Family businesses may wish to recast sustainability as an opportunity to improve efficiency and employee engagement. Preparing an annual business sustainability report with KPIs is one way to share the information with the board directors, management, and employees. 

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for executive leaders to be well prepared as crisis managers, it served as a reminder of the value of a strong board of directors as an ally in transitioning out of chaos. With diverse experiences, historical perspectives, and myriad insights, board members can be essential to a successful corporate crisis management plan before, during, and after the crisis for all companies, public or private.

Internal investigations are a fact of business management and governance. Broadly viewed, there are two general scenarios for private board oversight relating to internal investigations: (1) oversight of management’s investigation processes, and (2) in limited, special circumstances a specific investigation might become a matter for more direct board oversight or involvement.

Private companies have been buffeted by upheaval on many fronts in the past 2-3 years: pandemic, inflation, stimulus programs distorting employment markets, supply chain disruptions, war, and other issues. These pressures have caused financial distress by some, acceleration of generational transfer by many, and sparked the decision to sell out by others. The use of well-qualified senior interim management professionals acting under the guidance of the Board may help bridge gaps that occur with rapid change, and this article explores the reasons why and how that may be done.

Chicago, IL (April 22, 2022) — "The" Private Directors Association (PDA), a national association dedicated exclusively to serving private company boards and directors with the mission of improving value, growth, and sustainability through private company board excellence, announced that Bank of America has become a PDA National Diamond Sponsor.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, 2020 and the resulting disruption to retail, hospitality and other industries, and the more recent severe disruptions in the international supply chain, many businesses are experiencing severe challenges. And most directors of private companies know that when the company begins to experience financial distress, they need to be especially vigilant to avoid breaching their fiduciary duties of loyalty and care.