Archive · 10 Nov 2025
Corporate Boards Must Navigate Geopolitical Volatility, Says Harsh Goenka
Imagine your company is like a ship.
For a long time, the captains (the board) mainly worried about making money and not crashing the ship.
But now, the sea is very stormy with big political events happening everywhere, like storms and currents changing quickly.
These political storms can sink the ship much faster than a small mistake.
So, the captains need to be like weather forecasters, watching for storms far away and understanding the ocean's moods.
They also need helpers who know about different parts of the world and dangers, not just how to sail.
Companies are starting to build their ships to be tougher and change direction easily, just in case a storm hits.
This means thinking ahead about different kinds of storms and having plans for them.
It's not just about getting to the destination, but making sure the ship can survive the rough journey.
Geopolitical unpredictability is a top concern for global leaders, surpassing inflation and market volatility.
Events like the Russia-Ukraine war show how geopolitical shocks can rapidly destroy business value.
Companies are shifting strategies from efficiency-driven to resilience-driven, employing tactics like near-shoring and friend-shoring.
Corporate boards need to develop 'peripheral vision,' incorporating experts with international experience and understanding of global power dynamics.
Geopolitical risk is the new operating climate, requiring boards to institutionalize intelligence gathering, scenario planning, and adaptive governance.
- Who
- Corporate boards and company leaders
- What
- Need to adapt to a new era of geopolitical disruption and integrate geopolitical risk into strategic decision-making and board composition.
- When
- The current era, characterized by perpetual disruption.
- Where
- Globally, affecting all companies and industries.
- Why
- Geopolitical events (e.g., wars, trade restrictions, cyber attacks) now have significant and rapid impacts on business operations, supply chains, and financial markets, making them a central concern for corporate resilience and survival.
The Need for Geopolitical Awareness
Traditional Board Focus
Scope of Board Concerns
The Need for Geopolitical Awareness
Corporate boards must expand their focus beyond profits and governance to include geopolitical risks like trade wars, cyber attacks, and regional conflicts, which are now central to business strategy.
Traditional Board Focus
Historically, corporate boards were primarily concerned with financial performance and internal governance, and did not typically focus on external geopolitical events.
Board Composition
The Need for Geopolitical Awareness
Boards require new forms of diversity, including former diplomats, defense analysts, and cyber experts, to gain insights into global power dynamics and navigate complexity.
Traditional Board Focus
Traditional board diversity metrics (gender, generation) are insufficient in the current geopolitical climate, lacking the specialized international and strategic perspectives needed.
Company Strategy and Resilience
The Need for Geopolitical Awareness
Companies must prioritize resilience and adaptability, re-shoring, near-shoring, and friend-shoring supply chains, and practicing scenario planning to prepare for fragmented trade and technological decoupling.
Traditional Board Focus
A focus solely on efficiency in business operations may leave companies vulnerable to geopolitical shocks, which can disrupt supply chains and operations more rapidly than business missteps.
- Author
- Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG Group
- Primary Concern Mentioned
- Geopolitical unpredictability
- Deloitte Survey Finding
- Over 60% of global leaders see geopolitical unpredictability as their greatest concern.
- World Economic Forum Risk
- State-based armed conflict named as the most immediate threat.
- New Business Vocabulary
- Near-shoring, friend-shoring, re-shoring
- Recommended Board Disciplines
- Intelligence integration, scenario rehearsal, adaptive governance