B. The Performance Roles
The first set of roles can be thought of as contributing to the overall performance of the business. We can usefully distinguish a number of different roles within this category, giving each a label for reference.
Contributing know-how, expertise and external information
The first role involves bringing knowledge and experience to bear on issues facing the board. Here the director is drawing on his accumulated experience in business and other similar situations generally. We might call the role that of "the wise man". Long-serving directors may find themselves cast in this role by newer board colleagues.
The second role is that of "the specialist". Here the director relies on his particular professional expertise, skills and knowledge. For example, the expertise might be from the realms of accountancy, engineering or law; or stem from specialist knowledge of a particular international market, technology or financial matter. In some growing companies outside directors are appointed to the board specifically to provide such specialist inputs, until such time as the company acquires such skills at the executive level.
Then there is the role which we could call "the window-on-the-world". Here the director is being used as a source of information on issues relevant to board discussions. Often this will be on matters external to the business, such as insights into marked opportunities, new technologies, financial and economic concerns or international matters. Again this is often a role for outside directors who are in a position to obtain information, through their day to day activities, that is not readily available to the executive directors.
Networking, representing the company and adding status
Another potentially important role, often fulfilled by outside directors, is that of "the contact-person", who is able, through personal contacts, to connect the board and top management into networks of potentially useful people and organizations. For example, the director might be placed to forge contacts in the worlds of government, banking, international trade or political circles. Clearly supplementary to the "window-on-the-world" role, this contribution implies an additional pro-active dimension.
In "the figure-head role" the director is called on to represent the company in the external arena – in meetings with investors and financial analysts, for example, or in trade and industry gatherings. The chairman of the Board often takes on this responsibility, being invited to join public committees, commissions and the governing bodies of important public bodies. Increasingly such directors might be spokesmen for the company with the media.