Company Boards

As long-time chief executives, board directors, and senior organizational development experts, ICA can (1) help growing companies recruit and establish talented and high-functioning boards that add value, stability, confidence, and sound governance, (2) facilitate the sharpened focus and impact of existing boards in interacting with company management, and (3) bring fresh, objective perspective regarding a firm's performance, opportunities, and major planned projects and initiatives.  We can also help Boards to ensure sound executive leadership, develop orderly succession, sharpen the general management protocols and reporting necessary to effectively engage a board, and objectively assess company performance (vs. true best-in-class potential) and plans (e.g., M&A).  This often involves addressing commonly-seen gaps, as follows:

• Poor, defensive, or “last minute” management reporting that disables board members from preparing and engaging in the most, value-added helpful way.  
    
• Perfunctory “honorary” boards (i.e., “rubber stamp”) populated by CEO’s/Owner’s friends, family, bankers, lawyers, community leaders… often polite, no “skin-in-the-game” boards that skim reports, rarely challenge plans/results, and lack focus on attaining industry leadership, developing executives & succession.
   
• Lack of objective industry benchmarking, assessment and planning (management, organizational, compensation, etc.) to ensure healthy top-level strategic guidance.
   
• “Overreaching” hands-on boards that can derail or paralyze operating executive leadership by straying beyond their necessary high-level governance activities.
   
• Lack of wise and experienced counsel and objectivity in conducting M&A activity or major enterprise-wide projects (e.g., ERP systems, expansions, consolidations, new performance/compensation management systems, quality systems, etc.).  Upfront enthusiasm can blind sponsors from hidden “gotchas” resulting in a high costs and thorny, avoidable integration issues that can overwhelm management’s capacity to lead existing operations.  ICA's experienced perspective can be invaluable in testing and hardening project proposals and implementation plans!