The invisible infrastructure of governance: rituals as indispensable communicative and social resources in boards of directors

Abstract

This article relates to the fields of corporate governance and organizational communication, contributing to the interdisciplinary debate that bridges management sciences and the humanities. The study focuses on the symbolic and interactional dimensions guiding the highest levels of corporate power, specifically analyzing the role and structuring function of rituals within the dynamics of boards of directors. Its primary objective is to demonstrate theoretically that rituals serve as indispensable communicative and social resources for the effective functioning of these bodies, acting as essential tools for mitigating cognitive biases and fostering an environment of candor and collective intelligence. The research draws on an interdisciplinary literature review, connecting governance theorists—such as Sandra Guerra, Ram Charan, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Richard Leblanc, Randall S. Peterson, Stanislav Shekshnia, and Reid Hoffman—with foundational anthropological concepts from scholars like Arnold Van Gennep, Victor Turner, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and, in a contemporary context, Roberto DaMatta. The study is anchored in the thesis presented in the article *Rituais, Conselhos e Deuses* [Rituals, Boards, and Gods] by Professor Dr. Paulo Nassar (Aberje, 2026). The article is structured in three parts: the first investigates the unique nature of boards of directors as social systems; the second examines the anthropological foundations of the concept of ritual and its applicability to the organizational context; and the third demonstrates how specific ritual practices function as mechanisms for fostering trust, candor, collective identity, and learning within boards.