They must have a beneficial role and added value to the company or they wouldn't keep getting voted in.  It's hard to know what anyone is actually doing with respect to the BOD anywhere except for the technological geniuses that write papers and create patents all of which are visible to the public. The majority of affairs are behind closed doors so shareholders for the most part remain in a fog and will be the last to know whether we are heading into a light at the end of the tunnel or darkness.