Hattonneale is proud to announce that we have partnered with world leading scholars from the Australian National University and Carnegie Mellon to undertake cutting edge governance research.
What are we researching?
Our first research project will draw on evidence from multiple sources to identify the key drivers and outcomes of board effectiveness in publicly listed Australian companies. We will look particularly closely at the role and leadership of the chair. We will also consider how boards can adapt, transform, and become ‘future-fit’.
By the end of 2023, we hope to share with you how boards can prioritise certain elements of governance over others in order to optimise their performance.
Why are we undertaking this research?
Through our board search and advisory work, we have observed a widespread focus on ‘best practices’ in the boardroom. While these practices are said to contribute to board effectiveness, they have not always been fully tested and analysed. In particular, they are often informed by industry reports and other research that varies considerably in terms of quality and trustworthiness.
Additionally, much of the existing research on corporate governance and boards is quite dated and not reflective of the governance challenges faced in contemporary boardrooms – particularly the challenges faced in the last three years following the coronavirus pandemic and heightening environmental, social, economic, and geopolitical tensions.
It is challenging for boards to know which practice prescriptions and research to look to in order to improve their governance processes. Through this research project, we hope to cut through the noise and information overload.
How will we go about the research?
We will adopt a pioneering ‘best evidence approach’ to identify the most important drivers and outcomes of effective boards. This will involve combining and synthesising multiple sources of trustworthy evidence to demystify the board capabilities, processes, leadership qualities, behaviours, and dynamics that make for an effective board.
We will identify drivers of board effectiveness relevant today, as well as those likely to be relevant in the future in order to ensure sustained high performance.
The findings from this pioneering evidence-based review will also inform our two-part survey, which will focus on the role and leadership of the chair as a key element of board effectiveness.
How can you help?
We will soon distribute an initial short survey about the board leadership of publicly listed Australian companies. We would be most grateful for your responses. The more responses we receive, the more robust our research findings.
We would also welcome any suggestions as to areas you would like us to focus on in the research.
We look forward to working with you as we seek to identify unique insights on board effectiveness and the role of the chair. In the meantime, please let us know if you would like any further information about this project.
