Boardroom Effectiveness: Andrew’s Interview with the NHS

In View magazine, a senior management publication of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, recently interviewed Andrew about boardroom effectiveness for its July 2008 edition .

Andrew discusses the evolving role which boards have assumed since their creation 250 years ago while stressing that the relationship which board members enjoy, particularly between CEOs and Chairmen, is still crucial to effectively shaping an organisation’s vision.

The role fo the chairman is discussed in terms of his contributions to:

• governance controls and mechanisms
• organisational strategy
• corporate risk assessment, and
• corporate reputation

While the chairman runs the board and the CEO runs the business, they must share a similar vision for the business and work together to engage board members in shaping (and constructively challenging) its future direction.

In terms of the NHS specifically, Andrew analyses information from his top team database to explain how this organisation’s London board is well-aligned in terms of a shared mission — compared to other countries’ health services — but it needs to devote more attention to operationalising this vision day-to-day.

Reference:

Coomber, S., “Boardroom Effectiveness” In View, Issue 18, July 2008, pp. 8-11.