The Fish Rots From The Head: The Crisis in our Boardrooms: Developing the Crucial Skills of the Competent Director

by Bob Garratt

The four directoral balances are: 1 Organizational effectiveness. The external, long-term perception in the customer’s mind of the products or services of the business being desirable, reliable and good value for money. 2 Organizational efficiency. The internal, short-term focus on cost reduction and efficiency gain – but only until just before it negatively affects the customer’s perception of organizational effectiveness. 3 Board performance. The external focus of the board on policy formulation in relation to the external political environments; and on strategic thinking about the competitive positioning and broad resource allocation of the enterprise in relation to its policies. 4 Board conformance. The internal focus of the board on its performance to pre-set goals of accountability to its stakeholders; and to its business performance through its people.