Responsible board and CEO practice in modern strategy-making: The role of ethics in underpinning corporate responsibility

The interplay of the board of directors (BOD) and the chief executive officer (CEO) in strategy-making has been the subject of some debate in the literature. Some experts argue the BOD should take a strong role in strategy-making while the alternative point of view is that the CEO is the key man or woman. The modern organization focus needs to be on giving more emphasis to the empowerment, interaction and creativity of the CEO and top management team. The BOD should focus on questioning, criticizing, refining and enabling the strategy proposed by the professional managers. However this literature survey also suggests these findings are subject to exception and variation in relation to factors including specialist knowledge, track record of performance, personality attributes, personal power, and political and influencing skills. These activities have clear ethical dimension as responsible practice raises issues of duty and accountability. The decisions related to strategic direction of an organization can also be considered from a stakeholder perspective, Key questions to address in the examination of responsible decision making are what are the duties of BOD and CEOs and to who are the key stakeholders that such obligation is directe