Strategy—The First Big Test with Your Board

Abstract

Many boards consider the oversight of corporate strategy their most important governance responsibility. For the past two years, “strategic planning and oversight” has ranked first—by a wide margin—in national surveys of U.S. public company directors about their top priorities.¹ Despite its importance, few directors give their boards high marks in this area; in a 2009 survey, less than 20 percent rated their boards as “highly effective” on strategy issues.² As this study suggests, there is clearly room for improvement in how boards engage with the CEO and management on issues of strategic oversight.