Cornerstone of the Board: Opening the board’s window on the world
Julie Hembrock Daum and Julie Cohen Norris
January 2007
In today’s highly competitive global marketplace, it is not surprising that many companies are seeking to add international directors, particularly in those markets that align with their corporate strategy. However, our recent survey of the 200 largest S&P 500 boards found that international directors remain a small minority on the boards of leading companies. In fact, there are only 141 non-U.S. directors out of a total of 2,306 directors — a mere 6 percent of the total — and more than half of U.S. boards do not have an international director at all.
In this issue of Cornerstone of the Board, we examine the importance of adding an international perspective to U.S. boards and look at the number dimensions that U.S. boards need to consider when thinking about adding international representation to their boards.
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