, Columnist
Boards Will Never Be Any Good at Policing Executives
Expecting corporate directors to monitor management's behavior shows a profound misreading of human nature.
Watching for naughty executives.
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The job of the corporate board of directors is to oversee company management on behalf of shareholders. This is, I think it’s fair to say, the most widely accepted understanding of what boards were put on earth to do.
Yes, there are those who think the board should be looking out for other stakeholders -- employees, customers, society -- beyond just the owners of shares. There’s also a lot of evidence that boards aren’t all that great at management oversight.