Insights

 

The Future of Board Governance: A Brief Chat with Editor of AFR’s BOSS Magazine

Around the world, boards are increasingly focused on enhancing their overall effectiveness during a time of rapid change and disruption. Good governance is key to meeting the challenges and opportunities of the future. In today’s business environment, the work of AESC Members as trusted advisors is crucial as they leverage their expertise to help clients achieve a competitive advantage. 

Staying on top of current trends and best practices is vital to navigate the complexities of today. During AESC's inaugural Asia Pacific Conference, Elevate 2017 in Sydney, a panel discussion explored the range of issues facing boards including digitalization, risk management, diversity, cybersecurity, and executive talent. Joanne Gray, Editor of AFR’s BOSS Magazine, lead the discussion on what lies ahead for boards. 

 

AESC: What do you think are the key issues facing boards in the future? 

Joanne Gray: The issues facing boards relate to the generational gap. Boards are not familiar enough with digital technology, cyber security and new platform business models. 

AESC: What do you think are the key factors for good governance of organizations in the future? 

Joanne Gray: The use of data and its security as well as the ability to harness diverse thinking will be key issues for boards and how to position their organizations to survive and thrive in disrupted industries. 

AESC: Disruption presents both challenges for organizations and opportunities for innovation. How can boards reform and refocus toward capturing these opportunities?

Joanne Gray: Boards must understand that they have to restructure their businesses to allow them to become more entrepreneurial and more porous so that they can bring more innovative thinking into their businesses from outside. This entails both risk and opportunity so they have to ensure they know how to assess and manage that.

For more information on the topic, read The Future of Boards.