Boards and Board Effectiveness: Our research and work on boards

Boards are at the helm of corporate life and the way that companies are governed has implications for society at large. We have conducted extensive research into board dynamics and effectiveness, and the wider impact of corporate leadership.

The Leadership Institute has collaborated with several organisations, professional bodies and sister research centres and institutes of London Business School, to bring together and showcase thought leadership across the full range of subject matter areas relating to board governance and board effectiveness.

Throughout 2020, the Leadership Institute worked with the economic and social development consultancy SQW, on a board research effort commission by the FRC. The results of this research can be found in the Board Diversity and Effectiveness in FTSE 350 Companies report. We found that most progress has been made in gender diversity, however there is still substantive work to be done in other areas of diversity identified during the research effort. The report also highlights that when cultivating diverse boards, this process must be actively and dynamically managed to yield positive results.

Harvey Nash board survey

Since 2016, the Leadership Institute has collaborated with executive search firm Harvey Nash to research the changing dynamics of boards. Reports revealed that 82% of chairs and non-executives surveyed feel that companies pay a hefty price, socially, financially and environmentally, for ineffective boards.

A View at the Top: Boardroom Trends in Britain’s Top 100 Companies

The Leadership Institute partnered with The Chartered Governance Institute (ICSA) to analyse the board composition of Britain’s Top 100 companies (FTSE 100, July 2017) as a follow up review and comparison to the 1998 report, ‘A View at the Top’, with the aim of understanding the changes in boardroom trends and their implications for board effectiveness.

Download the report

Next Generation NED Network

The Leadership Institute is proud to be one of eight partner organisations who run the Next Generation NED Network. The Network is aimed at senior executives of leading businesses who are considering becoming non-executive directors (NEDs) as well as existing NEDs who wish to keep up to speed with the latest issues affecting boardrooms. The Leadership Institute hosts one Network event each calendar year and provides support and practical tools for NEDs, based on our rigorous academic research.

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