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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · The board of directors

Marlow Engineering's chair wants the annual board evaluation to be credible to shareholders. The board has so far done an internal questionnaire completed by directors and collated by the company secretary, who reports to the chair. Which change would most improve the objectivity of the process?

Commissioning an external facilitator periodically, who interviews directors, observes meetings and reports to the full board, most improves objectivity. It removes dependence on the chair and management. Letting the chair summarise results, shortening the survey or limiting it to executives would not add independence.

  1. AHaving the chair personally write the summary of results to ensure consistency
  2. BMaking the questionnaire shorter so that more directors complete it
  3. CCommissioning an external facilitator periodically to conduct interviews and observe meetings, reporting findings to the whole boardCorrect
  4. DRestricting the evaluation to executive directors who know the business best

Explanation

An external facilitator brings independence from the chair and management, and interviews and observation give richer evidence than a questionnaire. Having the chair write the summary worsens bias. A shorter questionnaire raises response rates but not objectivity. Restricting the evaluation to executives excludes the independent view and the chair's own performance.

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