Domain: Corporate Governance
Question:
A fast-growing, private enterprise company is seeking to strengthen its governance model to scale alongside competitors while ensuring balanced shareholder interests. The company operates in a regulated environment, and its current governance framework focuses primarily on minimum charter-level compliance rather than governance as a performance and capability system. To support its near-term growth strategy, leadership wants to evolve toward a more intentional, strategic, and competency-driven governance framework.
The current board consists of the CEO--who holds a majority ownership stake--and two representatives of private investors. The board maintains risk and audit committees and relies heavily on internal stakeholders for guidance on strategic decisions. As growth accelerates, leadership is concerned that compliance-focused oversight alone will be insufficient to sustain performance, culture, and stakeholder confidence.
In this context:

1. How should the company define, assess, and continuously validate "governance competency" among directors beyond regulatory knowledge--particularly through industry experience, prior performance, board self-assessments, stakeholder trust, and the concept of "governance craft"?

2. What core resources (human capital, financial capacity, strategic discipline, board evaluations, external advisors, and information access) should the board and management intentionally deploy to achieve sustained performance outcomes?

3. How should the board distinguish between tactical corporate governance (committee checklists, compliance monitoring, and control processes) and strategic corporate governance (culture-building, long-term value creation, and performance-driven decision making)?

How does aligning governance competency, resource deployment, and the tactical-strategic distinction enable the board to move from compliance-driven oversight to performance-based governance?

Expected points in a correct answer:
Evaluates a Board Member by checking whether they have held prior board or committee roles.
Evaluates a Board Member by assessing their prior term.
Evaluates a Board Member by considering their prior success in a comparable role.
Evaluates a Board Member by assessing stakeholder trust in the board member.
Identifies that the competency of the board of directors is determined in the governance craft.
Identifies that governance craft can serve as a benchmark to determine the effectiveness of corporate governance
Identifies that governance craft includes having the right people, building a performance-based culture, having adequate resources, and gaining stakeholder confidence
States that the governance craft is having the correct people in charge to lead.
States that the culture-building is a core duty of governance.
States that governance craft includes having adequate human capital resources
States that strategy influences company performance.
States that staffing the right people is a component of achieving good performance outcomes.
States that board assessments are used to evaluate board performance.
States that strategy revisions are part of achieving sustained performance outcomes
States that ongoing monitoring would be a factor in measuring performance.
States that a key metric to measure performance would be maintaining a good cash position.
States that a key metric to measure performance would be stakeholder satisfaction.
States that tactical goals are relevant in achieving good company results.
Identifies that a good strategy has to be realistic.
Identifies that tactical goals are not just limited to regulatory and compliance processes
States that tactical goals can include operational execution plans.
States that the board is responsible for creating a solid game plan for the company
States that a strategy must have a tactical plan.
States that board is responsible for creating financial goals.
States that board is responsible for creating non-financial goals.
Identifies the audit, risk, governance and compensation committees as part of "tactical" Corporate Governance.
States that the board can leverage private third parties to obtain key information not available to the public to increase company performance
States that the board can obtain key information from third parties that is not available to the public.
Tactics includes executive secretaries conducting background checks on board members' character.
States the board can improve performance if they have a good financial position.
States the board can improve performance if they have good human capital resources.
Identifies that tactical corporate governance includes maintaining checklists for legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements
States the relevancy of strategic goals in achieving good company results.
States that the board can utilize third-party data.
Identifies that "tactics" includes retrieving key data from vendors.
States that board self-assessments/evaluations are used to verify current understanding of the company's structure.
Identifies that the key resources for achieving good performance outcomes are human capital, financial capital, and a good strategy.
States that communication is a component of achieving sustained performance outcomes.
States that tactical goals serve as an approach on how to achieve the company's vision and strategy.
States that governance craft includes gaining stakeholder confidence.
Identifies that prior experience in the company's industry is used to verify governance competency.
States that governance craft includes having adequate monetary/financial resources to fulfill requirements.
States that data from vendors/partnerships can position the company in a better standing.