Once you have completed reading the case study and answering the questions, compare them to the answers given to you below.
Here is an instance where a well-intended chairman, who has been a very meaningful part of the origins and growth of the NGO, has gotten a bit confused about where the role and responsibilities of a chairman end and those of the chief executive begin.
The chairman is acting much more like the chief executive himself and the current chief executive is acting much more like an assistant responding to the chairman’s operational orders.
As for suggestions for the chairman, it’s important that the chairman’s role is clarified, particularly as it relates to the chief executive. Additionally, and just as important, clarifying the role of the board vs. management is also an important idea for this situation.
Regarding suggestions for the chief executive, he needs to understand that he reports to the board, not to an individual board member, even when that board member is the chairman.
He needs to gently work with the chairman to help him understand the dilemma with these confused role boundaries. Possibly, there’s another board member with whom the chief executive can interact and who might be in a position to whisper in the chairman’s ear with counsel.
As to the board, they need to be clear about the respective roles of the board and management. They need to understand how they can set boundaries in the form of policy for the objectives and strategy of the chief executive and his or her employees. In this particular case, there is no boundary established by a policy or clearly stated objective other than the direct orders of the chairman.
It’s also clear that the chief executive is taking other issues into account with his decision-making as well, including the input and the feelings of the respective program managers.