Hội đồng cần phải hiểu chiến lược, nhưng nó không phải là công việc của họ để tạo ra nó. Họ có thể thách thức các ý tưởng quản lý chiến lược, nhưng nó không phải lên chúng để xác định lựa chọn thay thế. Giá trị thực sự của hội đồng quản trị bằng cách giúp quản lý kiểm tra xem chiến lược là có căn cứ trong thực tế | 116 Boards That Deliver How Boards Shape Strategy Boards need to understand strategy but it s not their job to create it. They may challenge management s ideas for strategy but it s not up to them to define alternatives. The board s real value comes by helping management test whether the strategy is grounded in reality. They do that by insisting that management answer fundamental questions. As one successful CEO and director put it The value is in raising strategic issues especially those that are uncomfortable. Then boards can dig even deeper. One question boards cannot overlook is How will money be made with this strategy The board cannot allow strategy to be divorced from the fundamentals of money making. Management can become enthralled with a strategy and swept away by just one financial target at the expense of others This merger will make us the largest company in the world for example while ignoring the effect on the bottom line or the balance sheet. The board can prevent huge missteps by questioning how with this strategy the business will generate sufficient cash to meet its debt commitments and earn more than its cost of capital. if that result is unclear the strategy may not be viable. Equally important is Does the company have the resources not only financial but also human to execute the strategy and are they allocated appropriately A change in strategy can require an entirely new skill set or the withdrawal of resources from a business unit or a pet project. Does management have a plan to retrain the sales force from product to solutions selling for instance or to hire new people is it devoting sufficient resources to the growth areas and pulling the plug on others A host of other potentially important questions arise. Has management considered the full range of external factors Has it made weak assumptions about how certain factors might trend or failed to imagine how several factors might converge For example what might happen if debt is large if .
