GCC BDI announce the launch of “Determining Board Effectiveness Across the GCC”, GCC BDI's 8th survey on board effectiveness, representing 16 years of the institute promoting professional directorship and corporate governance across the GCC.
About the report
This eighth review on board effectiveness in the GCC, developed in association and with thanks to Heidrick & Struggles, seeks to highlight the improvements made over the past two years since the publication of the last review in 2021, as well as over the past sixteen years since GCC BDI started to conduct surveys of boards in the region.
The review is based on a survey designed by GCC BDI and on the GCC BDI Framework for Board Effectiveness, which focuses on the following elements: board composition and director capabilities, director duties and responsibilities, board structure processes and protocols, effective board dynamics, delivering on the roles of the board and board evaluation and renewal. The survey and the review examine all these elements. This GCC BDI proprietary framework enables the evaluation of board effectiveness in the GCC in a structured manner, whilst allowing for flexibility to highlight emerging trends emanating from GCC BDI’s work in the region.
Key findings
The survey found that boards in the GCC are going through an intense period of transformation after emerging from the pandemic. Directors are adapting to global best practice and meeting new government and regulatory requirements and raising their standards for a new age of professionalism to ensure they are ready to steer their companies through complexity, disruption, and opportunities ahead.
Managing stakeholder expectations appeared to be a major concern with 45 percent of respondents believing it will have a significant impact on companies over the next three years, a rise of 17 percentage points from the 2021 report.
The report revealed a growing acceptance of the opportunities offered by strong sustainability and ESG strategy, with 89 percent of respondents believing that working towards sustainability will help boards create long-term value for their company.
Staying abreast of regulatory change was a concern for directors, although 44 percent felt there was the right balance of regulation and autonomy. Only 18 percent felt they were subject to too much regulation.
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