Boards play a crucial role in ensuring that public and non-profit organisations are accountable and perform well. Following various failures and scandals they face increasing scrutiny, pressure and expectations. Serious questions have been raised about the ability of boards to govern effectively.
Such concerns have stimulated a renewed interest in organisational governance, and a growing literature on the subject. Much of the current literature, however, has been criticised for underestimating the constraints and conflicting demands that boards face and recommending unrealistic solutions.
There have been very few detailed empirical studies on what boards do in practice. The Governance of Public and Non-Profit Organisations fills the gap and is of great value to policy makers and what can be done to improve their performance. |