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The Problem with Boards

Richard M. Biery, M.D.
Richard M. Biery,M.D. | posted 11/02/2007
This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

During the height of attention on the Enron collapse, a review of yet another book on board governance stated, "If the 19th century was the age of the entrepreneur and the 20th century was the age of management, the 21st century will be the era of corporate governance." Yet, with recent events exposing board ineffectiveness, poor methods, inability to appropriately control management, and the futility of piecemeal solutions, board governance appears to be in great trouble, even conceptual trouble. The venerable institution, as we know it, is being rethought.

Charitable and religious organizations have not been left out of this scrutiny. In fact several nonprofits have also been caught recently in serious malfeasance. Where were their boards? Henry Goldstein, in a recent issue of Chronicle of Philanthropy, writes "governance counts … Boards are entrusted with the task of acting, first, in the public interest, as the stewards of funds and other assets. The board not only sets the ethical ...

See also:

 board governance, Carver model, CEOs, conflict, non-profit board, organizational structure, policy governance