A Look at the Board's Role in Planning

Boards of directors have been pressed over the past decade to improve their monitoring of a company's economic performance. In addition, legal actions are forcing them to become overseers of what management does, both in delivering returns to investors and in obeying the various laws to which corporations are subject. But most importantly, boards are being charged with the long‐term responsiveness of the corporation to its economic environment and society. It is these pressures that require the board to take a more effective role in articulating the mission and strategies of the firm, allocating appropriate resources, and ensuring coherent appraisals of those strategies.