Summary
On the opinion of some management gurus such as Don Tapscott, the management of information and its related technologies offers the greatest potential for companies to differentiate their products and services. In this study, Board chairs and CIOs in 17 medium-to-large companies were interviewed. Broadly speaking, the interviews suggest that boards of directors - even in information-intensive companies in the financial services sector - spend remarkably little time exercising their oversight or providing their wisdom with respect to IT-related challenges. This study led the authors to conclude that boards in general today are poorly positioned to embrace a "value-adding" role for IT. Boards generally do not have a lively interest in IT, they do not demonstrate a focused interest in IT, nor do they see IT as playing a significant part in assisting in the competitive positioning of their organization.
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Extract
Adding Value: The Case for Adding It-Savvy Directors to the Board
Powerful global forces are redefining the rules, responsibilities and activities of corporate boards. Corporate scandals and accusations of board dereliction have pressured securities regulators in many countries to focus more strongly on compliance-related issues. Boards and management have little choice but to respond to these new demands. Restoring and maintaining investor confidence through compliance trumps all other cards, at least in the near future.
But directors also need to remember the TSX's March 2001 report which argues that establishing a value-adding culture, along with compliance, is critical in attending to shareholder interests. The report states that for boards to become truly valueadd...See the full content of this document
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