Board on Task: developing a comprehensive understanding of the performance of boards

The corporate governance crisis at the start of this third Millennium and the financial crisis only a few years later, have cast doubts on the way boards of directors of companies function. Lawyers and (financial) economists have developed narrow perceptions of boards and their roles that are unable to explain board performance in reality and the factors that determine it. A comprehensive and integrated approach of boards is required to truly understand what drives board performance. Such an integrated approach necessarily includes behavioural aspects. In this paper we focus on a crucial element in the analysis of board performance: what it means for a board to be On Task. On the basis of an Organisational Role Analysis we describe the interaction between executives and non-executives that constitutes board activity. The concept of the Board On Task helps to understand and assess board performance in practice. It also offers a comprehensive conceptual framework for conducting novel research in understanding board performance.