Board Member Roles & Responsibilities

Board of Directors – Small Business Notes -- A company's board of directors helps management develop business plans, policy objectives, and business strategy.

Director Roles and Responsibilities – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to the responsibilities of a board member in an agricultural cooperative.

Directors’ Legal Handbook – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is an overview of the legal responsibilities of a member of the board of directors in a cooperative.

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance – HBS Working Knowledge -- Is business malfeasance always the board's fault? Everyone has a stake in ethical behavior and moral reasoning.

What is the Difference Between an Advisory Committee and a Board (pdf) – Ohio State University Extension – A side-by-side comparison of the two.

Evaluating Cooperative Managers – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to developing an evaluation process for the cooperative manager.

Director Liability: An Overview for Directors of Ag. Cooperatives – Center for Cooperatives, University of California – A cooperatives director is a fiduciary and owes a fiduciary duty to the cooperative and its members.

Cooperative Director Compensation – Center for Cooperatives, University of California -- Describes and compares director compensation practices by California and non-California agricultural cooperatives and investor-owned businesses in the food system.

Board Meetings

Building the Board Packet – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide for preparing the paper material for a board of directors meeting.

Effective Decision Making in the Board Room – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet outlines decision tools for cooperative board members.

Effective Board Meetings – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to effective board meetings.

Improving the Board Functions

How to Build a Better Board – HBS Working Knowledge -- Boards need to work smarter and with a design in mind.

Evaluating the Board – Oklahoma State University -- This fact sheet is a guide to self-evaluation for cooperative board members.

Fixing Corporate Governance: A Roundtable Discussion at Harvard Business School – HBS Working Knowledge -- Bad business practices on a huge scale have made corporate governance Topic A of late.

Mapping Your Board's Effectiveness – HBS Working Knowledge -- To be effective, board members must understand their company’s strategy.

Do the Right Thing – HBS Working Knowledge -- How does a commitment to "do the right thing" as it's applied to customers, employees, and other stakeholders affect an organization's daily decision making?

What Leaders Need to Do to Restore Investor Confidence – HBS Working Knowledge -- Where corporate ethics are concerned, the buck stops with the CEO.  How corporate malfeasance found a foothold and suggests ways that all companies can restore trust.

Making the Right Call – Manager’s Notebook – Establish company principles, implement a process, respond to problems, and you are less likely to hear a whistle blow.