Majority of board members says companies are organised and prepared

The survey highlighted the importance of long-term strategy.

Majority or 88% of Singapore’s board members are confident in their board’s organisation and clarity of responsibilities despite the current situation, according to a research from the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) in collaboration with Russell Reynolds Associates.

In addition, 63% identify their companies as “very resilient” or “reasonably resilient” in confronting negative outcomes brought by the pandemic.

However, the report noted that 59% of the board’s time is spent dealing with the pandemic’s current impact, highlighting that they should also focus on allotting time to reexamine business strategies aside from just addressing a company’s immediate needs.

The issue of board overreach is also often discussed during the handling of a crisis as each board needs to find its own new balance with management on how to increase its oversight to appropriate levels.

Meanwhile, the “ability to cope with complexity while exhibiting flexibility to make decisions” is ticked as the most important leadership trait for both boards and management, whilst the “ability to navigate board-management relationships well” is listed as a low priority.

Further, the report noted that employees emerged as the top priority with close to half of respondents expressing this sentiment, whilst environment was ranked last by more than 60%. Majority also agreed that their company has been able to effectively leverage technology and drive innovation in adapting to the current business environment.