At a time of significant public debate about the role and performance of boards of directors, a recent McKinsey Quarterly global survey of corporate directors and other executives indicates that directors strongly desire more financial and operational information from management about the companies they serve and want to see more sector specialists and outside experts on company boards. They also regard the growing influence of private equity on the value of public companies as generally positive—at least in the short term—and indicate that private-equity investors tend to strengthen many aspects of corporate governance. Few executives see hedge funds making any positive contributions.

These and other insights emerged from the survey, in which 825 directors and more than 1,800 other managers and executives were invited to report on the roles and perceptions of boards at public companies.¹ Their responses complement the findings of a series of surveys on governance conducted by McKinsey over the past several years.² Among the earlier findings are that boards have generally become more active, that directors want to devote more time to developing talent and strategy, and that, for all the forces encouraging companies to rethink corporate governance, equally strong forces hold them back....