Stakeholder-rich boards 'misguided'

By Paul Jump, Third Sector, 12 November 2008

Boards of trustees made up largely of stakeholders are unable to function properly because they struggle to make decisions, according to the director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Julia Unwin told the Wales Council for Voluntary Action's trustee and governance conference last week that stakeholder boards were increasingly common in charities that the Government established or made appointments to. She said such boards had legitimacy and were good debating chambers but were indecisive and tended to neglect unrepresented stakeholders. Unwin said organisations...