The Board of an Organization

Board members are obligated to serve the organization & its shareholders' best interests.

Responsibilities of board members to guide an organization to success ...(Dr Claude H. A. Simpson).

The board members combine their extensive experience with their specialized knowledge and skills to provide essential support for solving complex issues and making informed decisions. Board members assist in resolving disputes and in ensuring their efforts support organizational objectives. Board members are obligated to serve the organization and its shareholders' best interests while they preserve their independent stance. This process ensures decision-making remains objective and free from excessive influence.

The board must foster productive ideas and identify key issues while proposing alternative solutions to make informed decisions. The board bears the responsibility to verify that the organization complies with all necessary legal requirements and regulatory standards. The Board of Directors needs to create policies and guidelines while resolving conflicts through awareness of potential conflicts. The difficult positions of individual board members caused by unresolved conflicts require them to demonstrate behavior that is objective and unselfish as well as honest and trustworthy while remaining responsible and efficient.

Hasson (2006) suggests that directors need to have a range of skills and understand when to apply their initiative, along with negotiation abilities and informal mediation techniques, and investigative expertise to make decisions that resolve complex challenges. The promotion of collaborative approaches leads to a higher probability of quick issue resolution among affected parties. Robust debates combined with mutual trust and collaboration between board members form the foundation for successful problem-solving as well as conflict resolution, and decision-making.

Board members must work together during meetings by respecting and accommodating their colleagues' perspectives and striving for shared organizational objectives. The board exists to offer strategic guidance for management while the organization's management team performs daily operational tasks. When lower-tier management teams struggle to reach agreement on decisions, the board takes over to make essential determinations.

The board's main duty involves identifying potential risks and implementing measures to manage them. The board steps into direct risk management strategies and supports the organization through potential challenges whenever problems appear. Board members frequently possess experience working through conflict resolution methods. Board members serve as neutral mediators for executive disputes or management-shareholder conflicts, which helps resolve escalating differences through objective solutions.

Reference
Hasson, R. (2006). How to Resolve Board Disputes More Effectively. MIT Sloan Management Review. Vol 48; No.1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Publishing.