Our Clients
With ABA’s proprietary technology, tools and experience we can help your organization design and enhance your board processes to focus primarily on critical strategic initiatives while maintaining relevant oversight functions as needed.
Your Team will be able to use the board to accelerate the organization’s business model for the benefit of all shareholders.
By implementing our unique High Impact Board Engagement system, your board process will be ultra efficient leading to a greater positive impact on your business.
Private Company Boards of Directors
Your Private Company Board should be a powerful strategic asset consisting of independent and experienced board members whose insights help the company fully capture future business opportunities while helping to identify hidden risks. They will partner with the team to develop effective and efficient strategies to drive the business forward. The right board leaders supported by ABA’s High Impact Board System bring your company specialist knowledge and experience in key business areas, such as management, finance, or technology, and enhance its strengths and reputation through multiple growth stages.
ABA works with Private Company Boards of Directors for businesses to create High Impact Boards that can sustain the delicate balance between formalized governance process requirements and the strategic needs of your organization.
Family-Owned Business Boards
Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards impact Family-Owned Businesses for current and future generations. A family-owned business needs a strong board with relevant experience and a broad perspective from other family businesses. A well-designed business board can add value to a family business by examining the company’s assets, profits, and dividends, while also focusing on the development of leadership, continuity planning, accountability, family values, and succession planning.
At ABA we understand the unique set of management challenges faced by family-owned businesses.
Our fully customizable High Impact Board Engagement System helps family businesses objectively adapt to specific situations to enable quantifiable growth and on-going prosperity.
Listed Company Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards
Listed Company Boards of Directors have become extremely complicated in trying to manage a complex set of expectations from multiple stakeholder groups. These boards have the unique responsibility for representing management, community stakeholders, and shareholder interests by balancing critical decisions that not only address the organization’s short-term needs but have long lasting impact on the operational capacity of the organization and its ability to increase shareholder returns.
Listed companies can also form separate advisory boards consisting of independent experts and advisors who work on specific initiatives without the complexity of fiduciary controls. Advisory boards enable the company to draw on the skills and knowledge of those with practical experience in solving an organization’s critical strategic imperatives. These boards can also enhance the company's reputation and credibility in the marketplace, increase consumer and investor confidence, and attract superior employees by demonstrating a commitment to company growth.
ABA works with public companies in two unique ways to address both fiduciary and non-fiduciary boards:
Non-Fiduciary and Customer Advisory Boards
Most non-fiduciary boards are costly, time consuming and do not meet the expectations of the organization and the team responsible for running the board. It is difficult to generate high impact from traditional boards made up of customers that meet once a year with little follow through or tracking of performance metrics.
At ABA we have analyzed hundreds of public company advisory boards and have found that it is rare to find consensus on the quantifiable “subjective value” that is being created. Our analysis shows that many executive teams struggle to understand how they can increase board engagement and quantify returns, especially in relation to customer loyalty, new markets, product feedback and thought leadership. This increases the risk that the board will fail to meet both the expectations of management as well as the organization’s biggest customers.
ABA’s High Impact Board Engagement System will enhance the strategic aspects of your non-fiduciary or customer advisory board by unlocking the acceleration that only an ABA board can provide.
Fiduciary Boards
Listed companies are legally obligated to create a fiduciary board to protect the interests of shareholders. They typically execute governance best practices by holding management accountable for performance and monitoring business results while supporting new business ideas. Most public company board members, executive teams, and shareholders, however, would also like their fiduciary boards to take a more proactive role in helping to guide the strategy and future growth initiatives of the organization.
With ABA’s proprietary technology, tools and experience we help publicly listed companies design High Impact Board processes that focus on the right balance of strategy and governance. This will allow your executive team to use the board to accelerate the organization’s business model for the benefit of all shareholders.
Private Equity Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards
ABA has a unique understanding of Private Equity Boards and how independent board leaders should consistently operate to generate maximum strategic impact for portfolio companies. At ABA we have developed a turnkey system that we have implemented for many Private Equity Sponsors around the world. Our proprietary systems, tools and methodologies are uniquely tailored to the investment strategy of each portfolio company to drive greater accelerated enterprise value for their GP’s and LP’s. We have also developed a specialized training program for PE Backed Executive Teams and Independent Board Members for portfolio companies so that they can maximize the impact a board has on a sponsored/backed organization.
ABA’s High Impact Board Engagement System will enhance the strategic aspects of your Private Equity Board by unlocking the acceleration in enterprise value and exit that only an ABA board can provide.
Healthcare Company Advisory Boards
ABA has worked with global pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare technology companies and has a unique understanding of the regulatory issues facing healthcare company advisory boards. ABA’s High Impact Board Engagement System for Healthcare Companies is specifically designed to help organizations generate strategic outcomes from their boards while meeting all compliance, tracking, and reporting standards.
Customer Advisory Boards
A Customer Advisory Board is a group of trusted strategic customers who give expert advice and share insights on a company’s products and services. Customer advisory board members are high-level executives at their own organizations who have in-depth market insight which enables them to guide corporate strategies, and address and create solutions to industry challenges.
ABA has found that in many of its customer advisory board assessments, executives do not consider or mitigate the risk of having a board made up of a company’s biggest or most important customers. It is also difficult to generate high impact from these boards which may only meet once a year with little follow-up or tracking of metrics.
ABA’s High Impact Board Engagement System has been implemented in hundreds of Customer Advisory Board meetings around the world. The ABA process has been proven to mitigate risks and provide CEOs with the quantifiable impact they expect.
Foundation, Government and Nonprofit Boards
ABA has worked with many boards with a unique purpose that goes far beyond the distribution of profits to the owners or managers. While Foundation, Government and Nonprofit Boards may be less focused on financial returns for shareholders in the traditional sense, board leaders should still be focused on creating high impact to increase the organization’s social footprint. The mission statements of these organizations can quickly erode if board practices do not generate board member engagement and increased impact for the organization.
At ABA we have implemented our High Impact Board Engagement System in innumerable organizations of this type with the aim of driving increased engagement, transparency and accountability and surpassing impact expectations.
Ready to get started?
To learn how to build or enhance your current board processes contact your local ABA office or complete our High Impact Board Benchmark and Analysis tool, here.