Governance and the Role of the Customer: Balancing the needs of stakeholders

Description

Corporate Governance is so much more than a technical set of rules, standards and codes: it is central to how organisations deliver their purpose, long-term performance, manage  relationships with stakeholders and maintain trust.  Corporate Governance is also critical to the way companies are managed, relationships between stakeholders and the role of business in society.

Our research is based on interviews with senior executives (including Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers and Customer Service or Customer Experience Directors) and a qualitative focus group of CEOs and senior executives.  Additionally we have interviewed senior representatives of investment or fund management organisations and conducted online surveys with 500 managers working in a variety of roles, across organisations in the private sector employing a minimum of 50 employees.  And finally an online survey of 1,016 UK consumers.

The research addresses 5 key objectives:

1. To what extent is the customer perspective present in the boardroom and in corporate governance?
2. What are customers’ perspectives on how companies balance the needs of all their stakeholders and focus on long-term performance?
3. How does corporate governance influence organisation’s customer experience strategy and delivery?
4. How are investors’ requirements for organisations to report on customer experience changing?
5. How should corporate governance change to ensure a focus on long-term objectives and enable a balance of the interests of shareholders, customers, employees and the wider community?

To conclude, our research provides a range of recommendations to embed the customer perspective in corporate governance, to improve business performance and outcomes for customers.