Advisory Boards: The Hot New Governance Trend

Source : Nels Olson, site Korn Ferry – 25 avril 2022

As the business environment becomes more complex, organizations are increasingly turning to advisory boards to help sort out the issues.

The startup clean energy company knew that the passage of the infrastructure bill meant a number of new projects would be up for bidding. But its executive team and board of directors didn’t have the relationships with legislators and regulators in Washington to effectively compete. Hiring an executive wouldn’t do much to move the needle. What the company needed was six or seven politically connected industry experts who could provide advice on navigating the regulatory environment and connections to the right decision-makers. 

Enter the advisory board. As the business landscape becomes more complex and unpredictable, organizations are turning to advisory boards to fill knowledge gaps, provide market intelligence, or advance strategic objectives. Since 2019, there has been a 52% increase globally in organizations utilizing advisory boards as part of their governance structure, according to the industry association Advisory Board Centre’s annual report. “More and more clients are asking us to build advisory boards for specific issues,” says Nels Olson, co-leader of the Board and CEO Services practice at Korn Ferry.