What is the trend in board structure of private companies?

Within the technology and business services sectors where we interact with a large number of small to mid-sized private companies, we are increasingly finding more formal and active boards with committee structures for compensation, audit, etc. That said, the authority of these boards is still very closely aligned to the ownership situation. For example, family-owned businesses are still concentrating the voting rights among a few family members and utilizing independent directors primarily in an advisory capacity - often with a functional area focus - while financial sponsor backed businesses have the most formal board structures that track closely to their public counterparts.