The Role of the Board in UK National Governing Bodies of Sport

Over the last couple of decades, governance has become increasingly recognised as a crucial process: first in the private sector, following high-profile commercial failures in the 1980s; and latterly in the public and voluntary sectors. The board of directors plays a central role in the process of good governance. The board is concerned with strategy, leadership, change, conformance, performance and a number of other functions. Academic research on governance has often been prescriptive – models of how boards should operate and advice offered to practitioners. A number of codes designed to aid stock-market listed organisations, non-listed organisations, and nonprofit organisations, charities, and community organisations have also been prescriptive in nature. However, research examining how boards actually operate has often found major gaps between the prescriptions of the governance literature and what occurs and what is considered possible ‘on the ground’. In this respect, it can be argued that an understanding of good governance is not simply about complying with certain procedures but is more about the creation of standards and behaviours that add value to an organisation.