Board Director Dilemmas—Sharing Expertise

This case focuses on a new director who was invited to the board specifically due to her expertise in a technical area. The case allows for discussion of the board director’s appropriate role: to advise and direct management or to ask thoughtful questions about proposed approaches and outline the inherent risks in recommended approaches so that management can “own” the issue and the solutions. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.