Governing Through the Fog: Corporate Director Perspectives on Political Uncertainty

| Annie Kors

About the Report

The pace of change in the business world is faster than ever, and corporate directors are constantly working to stay up to speed on the myriad of critical issues facing their companies: market pressures, reputational risk, financial disclosures, environmental social and governance factors, technological disruption, and much more. On top of this house of cards sits a heavy, often amorphous issue, threatening to tumble down at any moment: political uncertainty.

Today, the global political environment feels more volatile and uncertain than it has been for several decades, and many boards are unsure of how to understand and approach it. In recent research conducted by the Diligent Institute, directors were asked about the topics that are most demanding their attention. “Political uncertainty” rose to the top of a list of concerns that was mentioned most frequently by directors from around the world. Thus, Diligent Institute sought to tackle this thorny topic in order to answer three key questions:

  • What makes political uncertainty a different, harder issue to handle now than in the past?
  • Is managing political uncertainty different from managing other kinds of risk, and if so, how?
  • And finally, what should boards do about political uncertainty?

About the Author

Annie Kors

Former Lead Researcher

Annie Kors worked as the original Lead Researcher for the Diligent Institute.She authored several reports for The Institute, including “Winds of Change: Environmental Sustainability Rises to the Board Level” and “Governing Through the Fog: Corporate Director Perspectives on Political Uncertainty.” Before joining Diligent, she held research roles at organizations in a variety of sectors including IT and technology consulting, higher education, and documentary filmmaking. She holds a BA in History from Yale University.