In this multidisciplinary and conceptual paper, we use insights from new and challenging developments in the management and marketing literature to inform corporate governance research. We shed light on the role of governance and specifically boards of directors in value creation in small and medium enterprises. While corporate governance research mostly tends to emphasise the role of governance mechanisms such as boards in the protection and distribution of value, our research problematises such a narrow view and (re)conceptualises their role in value co-creation. By exploring the role of boards as resource integrators within a wider service ecosystem, we propose novel ways in which boards can become integral to firms’ value creation processes. In doing so, we develop a new logic for framing the boards’ tasks and suggest new directions for corporate governance research and practice. We apply an empirical conceptualisation strategy in order to make our findings more accessible. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.