An additional factor that supports this contention that boards are likely to become
more stewardship orientated concerns the current orthodoxy around social enterprise
and financing. A recent report advocated that social enterprises should aim for growth
through standard forms of financing including equity (Bank of England, 2003). The UK
government has created a legal form explicitly for this purpose, the Community
Interest Company (CIC). The CIC form requires an organisation to have an explicit
social mission and also places a cap on shareholder dividends, thereby protecting the
company from an emptying out of assets (Dunn and Riley, 2004). This move towards
external sources of finance is likely to increase the tendency of enterprises to adopt a
stewardship approach to the governance function as the organisation will be handling
shareholder funds and attempting to manage them to maximum effect.