Corporate Governance, Corporate Culture and the Board’s Culture

I attended in-person the 2022 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Conference this autumn in Barcelona. Entitled, Corporate Governance, Corporate Culture and the Board’s Culture, the Conference discussed the role of corporate culture in corporate governance.

I have to say I was a little bit apprehensive before getting there, as the speaker list looked very heavyweight, and I was a bit concerned that the focus might be a bit overly academic.

The opposite was the case. It was a really interesting expose of how corporate culture, and particularly board culture can influence the success of a business; how it can develop and deliver on good strategies, and how the values of directors can ensure business success. It also challenged us on how we measure success.

Not being familiar with IESE and its ethos, I anticipated a somewhat conventional and conservative approach might be taken, but was delighted to experience a really good examination of how progressive, diverse thinking can allow good companies to achieve great results..

I want to thank Dr Sean Brady, Director of Ornua, for encouraging me to attend, and the Timoney Leadership Institute for making it possible for me.

Some further details about the conference from IESE:

The 2022 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Conference took place in October in person in Barcelona and online. This Conference discussed the role of corporate culture in corporate governance.

Corporate culture is considered a very relevant driver of the firm’s success. Unfortunately, there is neither a widespread agreement on how to unpack the determinants of corporate culture, nor on how those factors influence corporate performance.

These concerns have awakened a new interest in corporate culture among scholars in the fields of corporate finance, economics, management and leadership, among others. Over the past ten years, relevant new theoretical and empirical work has been developed, with some promising results.

Some large institutional investors have recently announced that they expect boards of directors to understand and discuss corporate culture, and promote one that sets the right tone for the organization. Boards should reflect on how to make sure that the firm’s culture supports its strategy. Unfortunately, we still know very few insights on how boards of directors can govern corporate culture.

This 2022 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Academic Conference was aimed at discussing these issues from the specific perspective of the board of directors as the top decision-maker in an organization with a cross-disciplinary approach.

If you would like to discover how to boost your contribution as a board member and promote overall boardroom effectiveness to truly drive business value, competitive advantage and board engagement, you might be interested in the upcoming 4 day programme in IESE in May 2023. Find out more details here: Value Creation though Effective Boards

Further information on the IESE Centre for Corporate Governance can be found here: https://www.iese.edu/faculty-research/research-centers/iese-ccg-center-corporate-governance/