The Role of the Supervisory Board in the Process of Shaping the Company’s Innovativeness

Abstract:

In the present conditions, when, on the one hand, the need for a profound reform of corporate governance practices is increasingly discussed, and on the other hand, when an increasingly competitive market creates a number of new challenges for the corporation, more and more often questions are asked about the board's tasks and possibilities to perform them in areas which, until now, have not been clearly associated with its subject of interest. These include talent management, mediation, risk management, shaping organisational culture and so on. One such area in which the board of directors - using its potential - can have a lot to do is innovation management. Of course, it should be remembered that the issue of innovation management is, by its nature, a part of current management, and this is clearly a part of the company's Management Board. The Supervisory Board, however, seems to have an important role to play in the field of innovation, which largely consists in setting their strategic direction, promoting innovation and ensuring proper management. [Deschamps, 2013] [Phan 1998, p. 43-61] The aim of the presented article is to depict a comprehensive proposal of actions included in the scope of particular functions of Supervisory Boards, which may have a significant impact on the formation of a proper approach to the problem of innovation in the corporation supervised by these boards.