Boards That Dare

The authors enjoy high visibility at two of the worlds top business schools - Manchester Business School and Melbourne Business School.Sir Cary Cooper is well respected in the field, with a large network of followers and contacts across the industry; Marc Stitger has a growing profile as a commentator on strategy and leadership.Most titles in this area focus on directors' duties and responsibilities; this is one of the first books to look at how the whole board can act as a driver of positive change and strategy development.Marc Stigter is an international strategist who works with organisations on unlocking critical commercial insights and strategies. He is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Business and Economics, and Associate Director at Melbourne Business School. Sir Cary L. Cooper, CBE, is 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at the ALLIANCE Manchester Business School, President of the British Academy of Management, President of the CIPD and was the Founding Chair of the Sunningdale Institute think tank in the National School of Government. He was the lead scientist on the Foresight project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing and has published over 125 books and many scholarly articles on organizational psychology and the workplace.Boards That Dare offers actionable solutions to help board directors, chairs and CEOs move away from outmoded thinking and practices. THE CHALLENGE Corporate boards as fiduciaries are responsible for delivering maximum value and the highest standards of care. The persistent misconception that boards should be driven primarily by shareholder value will soon be an outdated one, and boards that continue to apply narrow interpretations of value and care are unlikely to survive. THE OPPORTUNITY This book reveals a future-proofing opportunity for courageous boards to redefine value and care for employees, consumers, communities, society, the environment, and shareholders. There is no point in trying to reframe value and care for a wider range of audiences if boards don't have the right capabilities and attitudes themselves. THE SOLUTION Boards that Dare invites boards to challenge shortcomings in their own ability, understanding and courage. The book shows how boards embracing this new kind of broadened fiduciary dynamism will become future-proof and realize sustained shareholder value as an output. THE RESEARCH Based on the authors' first-hand experiences, as well as their own research and interviews with board members and chairs of international private, public and not-for-profit organizations, this highly practical and cutting-edge book delivers the necessary solutions on how to future-proof today's boards.Boards That Dare offers actionable solutions to help board directors, chairs and CEOs move away from outmoded thinking and practices.Chapter 1 The Case for Future-Proofing Chapter 2 Boards that CAN Chapter 3 Boards that KNOW Chapter 4 Boards that WANT Chapter 5 Boards that ARE Chapter 6 Boards that DARE Chapter 7 Reframing Value & CareBoards that Dare offers an original and provocative look at how board cultures and behaviours need to change if companies are going to thrive responsibly in the 21st century.Boards That Dare provides great insights, challenging boards and executive management to drive for more sustainable and responsible business. It will take more will, more knowledge and insight, sometimes different capabilities, and also more courage - this book helps to lead the way.In a rapidly changing, global, disrupted, transparent world, in order to meet the needs of all stakeholders, business leaders need to reassess why their organization exists and what purpose it fulfils. Boards That Dare creates a new framework through which leaders can challenge every aspect of their own organization, make sure they are future-proofed and don't get left 'holding the nut'.Boards That Dare is the 'must read', bearing in mind Oxfam, Carillion and the concerns over FIFA. Getting our boards right is today's imperative.Companies need to adapt quickly but their boards often prove to be lacking agility in their thinking and acting. Luckily, Boards That Dare provides us with an in-depth analysis of why boards need to change and how they can best achieve that.