Boards of Directors and Corporate Strategy in an Uncertain Context

2021 IESE - ECGI Corporate Governance Conference

Boards of Directors and Corporate Strategy in an Uncertain Context

Monday, 4 October 2021 | 13:30 – 19:30 CEST

Tuesday, 5 October 2021 | 13:25 – 18:30 CEST

Organisers

Marco Becht (Solvay Brussels School, Université libre de Bruxelles and ECGI)

Jordi Canals (IESE Business School)

Download the programme

This was a hybrid event. Speakers and invited guests attended in person and the general audience was online.

About the Event:

Corporate strategy is considered a central driver of the firm’s long-term orientation and a key lever for delivering financial performance. Corporate governance suggests that boards of directors have the duty to govern the firm and help develop it sustainably for the long term. Hence, boards are supposed to discuss the firm’s strategy and eventually make relevant decisions on corporate strategy.

In dealing with strategy, boards face a complex task. Board directors need to understand the businesses of the company, their industries, and the main issues in complex strategic decisions, such as digital transformation, decarbonization, or corporate restructuring. Moreover, the level of strategic uncertainties that companies and their boards face is also increasing.

This 2021 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Conference discussed these issues from a cross-disciplinary approach. IESE CCG and ECGI brought together leading scholars -including a Nobel laureate- from the areas of corporate strategy, corporate finance and organizational economics, as well as CEOs and chairpersons from top-tier companies.

The conference took place October 4-5, 2021. There were five sessions where a distinguished scholar presented a paper, followed by a discussant. There were also two sessions with CEOs and chairpersons to discuss the practical implications of boards’ involvement on these strategic issues.

With the financial support of the Social Trends Institute