Is it time for a Brand Trust expert on the Board
(also appeared in Firstpost) The recent Tata boardroom spat has spawned many faceted discussions, and one of these has been on the appointment and role Independent Directors – an aspect that not only concerns governance, but also Board room expertise. Like many, I spent a considerable amount of time wondering what the boardroom discussions would be like, extrapolating from the little information that was available. To emphasize the need for expertise in the board, the rules for appointment of independent directors of a board under the MCA Act require the independent director to possess appropriate skills, experience and knowledge in one or more fields of finance, law, management, sales, marketing, administration, research, corporate governance, technical operations or other disciplines related to the company's business. It is quite clear that expertise (and not just experience) is one of the necessary qualities of the board. The question that kept coming back to me was...