Advisory Boards

Abstract

Advisory boards are widely used, but relatively little researched bodies in companies’ governance. The popularity of advisory boards is based on their flexibility and capability to produce added value also in companies and in situations where the board of directors (or a supervisory board) is felt to be too formal, or too heavy to be activated. Advisory boards are often used in family businesses as an additional resource in strategic or succession planning and as a provider of objective insight in situations where the interests and opinions of the shareholders differ. Family business owners’ and owner-managers’ reluctance to let outsiders take part in family business decision-making may prevent the use of advisory boards.