An analysis of the changing role of corporate governance regarding the awareness, valuing, and utilization of human resource development trends at the board of directors level of an organization: A descriptive, exploratory analysis

This research explores a prescriptive re-engineering of corporate governance in the United States; with the premise that changes are needed and that cures to current corporate maladies should endeavor to guide, educate and support the shareholders' elected representatives mandated through legislation to govern our companies. The resulting quantitative research along with the respondents' qualifying demographic statistics guided this investigation into ascertaining the level of awareness, appreciation and usage of Human Resource Development (HRD) tools in North America's boardrooms. The survey addressed a sample population of 4,830 Directors of the largest Fortune 1000 companies, yielding an anonymous response of 1.35%. The opinions garnered were correlated into nominal and ordinal data probing over 90 corporate governance and HRD matters. The investigation concludes that the most important issue respondent board members currently face is succession planning, and that HRD is a significant boardroom methodology with talent acquisition and retention regarded as its most important instruments to be understood.; The research is sustained by reviews of relevant literature and documented court rulings, revealing that there are few, if any, solutions offered to what appears to be an escalating problem tied to improper corporate governance. Recommendations in this document are therefore aimed at closing this gap and include a new governance model, human asset audits and the establishment of a solid ‘firewall’ between corporate executive management and oversight, barring company employees from direct governance participation thereby drawing a clear distinction between leadership in thought and leadership in action. The proposed remedies also discourage the use of sub-committees, thereby strengthening the Board members' foci on pure oversight matters, delegating all non-governance matters to a board of advisors, and advocating increased Board authority to independently retain advisors, contractors and employees.; Further research is needed to establish the requirement for education of Board members and usage of current international quality assurance standards as guidelines for human asset audits.