The Nordic life sciences sector—renowned for its innovation and resilience—faces a distinct set of challenges in today’s volatile market. Mid-cap med-tech and medical device companies, in particular, are navigating a complex landscape shaped by global market fluctuations, regulatory changes, and shifting investor sentiment. The central question for boards and leadership teams is whether to embrace risk or adopt a more cautious "wait-and-see" strategy.

In today’s complex and rapidly evolving business landscape, the role of corporate boards has expanded dramatically. Beyond traditional governance and oversight, boards now serve as critical drivers of strategy, risk management, and long-term organisational resilience. To navigate this environment, boards must not only stay grounded in sound governance principles but also evolve continuously to meet the demands of an unpredictable future. The boardroom of both today and tomorrow requires agility, forward-thinking leadership, and an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.

The perception that board fees are increasingly disconnected from the growing workload and expanding responsibilities complicates the essential broadening of the recruitment base to corporate boards. This misalignment poses a growing risk to the competitiveness of the business sector. Consequently, it is imperative that company owners adjust compensation structures to keep pace.

Catharina Mannerfelt, partner at Alumni, has extensive experience supporting boards and owners in board composition, board effectiveness and board development. Here she discusses some of the challenges and considerations she observes around board succession.

Catharina Mannerfelt, partner at Alumni, has extensive experience supporting boards and owners in board composition, board effectiveness and board development. Here she discusses some of the challenges and considerations she observes around board succession.

Alumni has over the last eight years annually surveyed boards internationally to understand how boards’ agendas are changing and what impacts effectiveness in the boardroom.

Has there ever been a more challenging time to have a seat in the boardroom? Market disruption is more frequent and increasingly impactful, and business strategy needs to be more agile and evolve more quickly in order to seize transformation opportunities. Meanwhile, the pressure from stakeholders and governing bodies to deliver long term value is relentless.

Anna Lindstedt, founder of Ethos International shares her view about the growing pressure on boards to take the risks and rewards around sustainability seriously.

Catharina Mannerfelt, partner at Alumni and expert in board effectiveness and development, discusses the challenges that the pandemic has presented in the boardroom and the drivers for change that it highlights.

A recent MIT Sloan report shows digital competence within the board helps longterm success. The respondents consider innovation and strategy to be closely tied with digital savviness, both areas needed to survive. As we work with nominating committees to assess what they need and how to find it, we hear requests of digital experts but they often come up short when asked to define this need for their particular situation.

In recent years we have observed an increasing frustration over the perceived imbalance between effort and reward within the board member community. To further understand this trend, we launched a research programme specifically targeting the issue, with the aim of understanding how much of a problem this is now – and how much it might become in the future.

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