TheCorporateCounsel.net

A recent survey of 600 C-Suite executives by PwC and The Conference Board found that although they felt that boards did a pretty good job in traditional areas of responsibility, executives felt that they fell short when it came to emerging areas of oversight responsibility. This excerpt from the survey’s introduction suggests that executives also perceive overboarding as a significant concern:

Executives continue to express confidence in their boards in traditional areas such as strategy and knowledge of key business risks but are less confident about areas such as digital transformation and ESG. We’re seeing a significant increase in executives who think directors are unprepared, perhaps in large part because executives see an issue with overboarding — their top complaint. This may be one of the reasons a record-high 92% of executives advocate replacing at least one director on their board.

At least 70% of executives surveyed said that their boards were proficient in providing oversight in traditional areas such as corporate strategy, key business risks and opportunities, and executive comp. However, only a little more than 50% of those executives said that their boards were proficient in addressing the impact of digital transformation/emerging technologies and non-climate ESG risks and strategy. Finally, only 48% felt that their boards had a good grasp on US and international ESG reporting requirements.

– John Jenkins