Sweden, Australia and France have eliminated ambiguity by issuing carefully crafted guidelines laying out the responsibilities and rules by which SOE boards operate. In the absence of such guidelines, new directors on the board may be unclear about their primary role and duties. There may also be ambiguity about whom the directors represent, how far they can go in challenging the management’s plans and proposals, how to interface with the minister and officials representing the ministry sponsoring the SOE concerned and how to exercise governance through strategic guidance and oversight. In most countries, there is no process for evaluating the performance of the SOE board on a systematic basis. OECD (2006) recommends that such evaluations take place annually: New Zealand, Poland and Sweden have developed specific mechanisms.
