Hollister Board Simulation Goes Virtual
The Director College, founded in 2003 as a JV between the Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University, offers a truly unique governance education experience that culminates in a 4-day board simulation. Over the course of 17 years our fictitious company, Hollister Dynamic Inc., has undergone multiple refinements to its backstory and its cast of role players. The board simulation immerses participants in Hollister Dynamics' annual board meeting calendar exposing them to ever-changing market dynamics, activist pressures on board composition and tenure, challenging discussions on executive compensation, and a volatile risk environment. Along the way, each Directors College cohort comes to embrace their role as Hollister directors trying to make sense of vague meeting agendas, domineering or passive board chairs, and a team of executives whose thinking is not always clearly aligned. The simulation reinforces the Directors College philosophy that what separates the poor from the good and the great comes down to the individual and collective behaviors of those that sit around the board table. The simulation certainly tests participant knowledge on effective board structure and practices but its value is in providing attendees with real-time feedback on how they can add value to a discussion and ultimately a decision. As Principal of the Directors College and as a Professor of Organizational Behaviour, I have observed each simulation with great interest and have observed that just like the “real world” the issues of the past few years have entered our simulated world as well. Increasingly, the conversation around the Hollister board has focused on questions and concerns regarding the companies stance on diversity and ESG and on navigating the balance between innovation and embracing new business models and mindsets while also not losing sight of the many risks and obstacles confronting large legacy business such as Hollister — no easy task; particularly when navigating your board meetings via a virtual platform. I would like to thank my co-facilitators for their commitment to bringing the simulation to life and to our attendees who have been open to reflecting on their own behaviors at the board table and taking back their insights to their own organizations to the benefit of better governance.
