Directors committing more time and effort.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: BOARDS OF DIRECTORS

If statistics don't lie, it seems that corporate directors have indeed sharpened their focus and are committing more time to their roles. The average full board meeting lasts five to six hours, and directors spend an average of 20 hours per month on board issues, according to research conducted earlier this year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Corporate Board Member magazine.

Among other notable findings:

* Risk of being a director: Sixty-two percent of directors have not seen a change in their risk over the past 12 months; 50 percent are completely satisfied with their understanding of their liability coverage at their company, and 48 percent are somewhat satisfied. Most (71 percent) have not resigned or considered resigning from any of the boards on which they serve.

* Agenda determination: A CEO who is also chairperson of the board has final responsibility for approving board meeting agendas for 44 percent of the boards; 27 percent give that responsibility to the non-executive chairperson.

* Board member qualifications: Directors believe board members should attend education seminars (90 percent); however only 40 percent of responding boards have a formal budget for such education. In the past 12 months, directors have had an average of five to eight hours of outside board training and four or less hours of inside training. Eighty-two percent of directors believe their company is doing enough to keep them updated on its industry, competition and technology.

* Board and CEO compensation: Seventy nine percent of responding directors believe their compensation is adequate, but fully 67 percent believe U.S. company boards are having trouble controlling the size of CEO compensation. When asked what would curb such...