Making the governance of public bodies work: chair–chief executive relationships in practice

Abstract

The importation, over the past 30 years, of private sector governance mechanisms into public sector bodies at arm's-length from government has brought greater focus on the relationship of part-time non-executive chairs and full-time chief executives. This paper explores this relationship in 14 UK public bodies, based on in-depth interviews with chairs, chief executives and, as triangulation, audit committee chairs. The findings concern the negotiated differentiation of roles; the effects of the chief executive's separate authority as accounting officer on internal governance; the management of external stakeholders; and how crises can affect roles and relationships. Improved processes of training and mentoring are proposed.

Keywords:

• Accounting Officer
• chair–chief executive relationships
• public bodies
• public sector corporate governance
• quangos

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge a grant from the British Academy (SG10591) and an award from the University of Aberdeen Knowledge Exchange and Transfer Fund.