Strategists on the Board in a Digital Era

Abstract

Considering the complexities and dynamics that firms are facing in a digital era, it is no exaggeration to argue that the way boards of directors contribute to strategy needs some new perspectives. In this article, we reconsider some of the commonly used notions and assumptions of board strategizing. We conceptualize a framework for board strategizing by revisiting and providing new elements to the work introduced by McNulty and Pettigrew in 1999 (Strategists on the board. Organization Studies, 20(1): 47-74. http://doi.org/10.1177/0170840699201003). Our framework highlights a number of timely board practices that have the potential to improve the way boards strategize under conditions of increasing digitalization. Further, the findings suggest that valuable strategic actions and priorities can be made by boards that use and develop dynamic capabilities as they strategize. Implications for theory and practice as well as future research directions are discussed.