Editing Board of directors (section)

====Current trends====
Historically, directors' duties have been owed almost exclusively to the company and its members, and the board was expected to exercise its powers for the [[corporate benefit|financial benefit]] of the company. However, more recently there have been attempts to "soften" the position, and provide for more scope for directors to act as good corporate citizens. For example, in the United Kingdom, the [[Companies Act 2006]] requires directors of companies "to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole" and sets out the following six factors regarding a director's duty to promote success:
* The likely consequences of any decision in the long term
* The interests of the company's employees
* The need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others
* The impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment
* The desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct
* The need to act fairly as between members of a company

This represents a considerable departure from the traditional notion that directors' duties are owed only to the company. Previously in the United Kingdom, under the [[Companies Act 1985]], protections for non-member stakeholders were considerably more limited (see, for example, s.309 which permitted directors to take into account the interests of employees but which could only be enforced by the shareholders and not by the employees themselves). The changes have therefore been the subject of some criticism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.altassets.net/features/arc/2006/nz8451.php|title=Director's duties}}</ref>

'''Board of directors technology'''

The adoption of technology that facilitates the meeting preparation and execution of directors continues to grow.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-board-portal-market-growth-leading-players-and-forecast-to-2023-2019-09-23|title=Global Board Portal Market Growth, Leading Players And Forecast To 2023.|website=MarketWatch|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-10|archive-date=10 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110225112/https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-board-portal-market-growth-leading-players-and-forecast-to-2023-2019-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> Board directors are increasingly leveraging this technology to communicate and collaborate within a secure environment to access meeting materials, communicate with each other, and execute their governance responsibilities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.passageways.com/board-portal/everything-you-need-to-know|title=Board & Committee Meetings {{!}} Board Portal Software {{!}} OnBoard|website=Passageways Board Portal Software|language=en|access-date=2020-01-10}}</ref> This trend is particularly acute in the United States where a robust market of early adopters garnered acceptance of board software by organizations resulting in higher penetration of the board portal services in the region.<ref name=":0" />