Director Ties, Board Experience, and Firm Strategic Outcomes
Director Ties, Board Experience, and Firm Strategic Outcomes

Author: Stephen V. Horner

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This study examines the effects of board experience on firm outcomes. Using the resource-based view of the firm in complement with agency theory and the resource dependence perspective, theory development links the past experience of outside directors' strategic experiences at their home firms with similar strategies pursued by the focal firm. Hypotheses test the effects on both short-term and long-term performance of outside directors' experience with acquisitions by their home firms of the entire assets of target firms. Results generally do not support the notion that acquiring firms benefit through positive post-acquisition performance from the past experience of their outside directors. However, significant results with respect to board international experience and the acquisition experience of the audit committee provide empirical support for the strategic importance of board experience and of board committees and for their potential impact on firm performance. Discussion of the results address limitations of the study and provide some direction for future investigation into the effects of board experience on firm strategic outcomes.

Boards That Lead
Boards That Lead

Author: Ram

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Published: 2013-11-19

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1422144070

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Is your firm’s board creating value—or destroying it? Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road map—for when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way. Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance model—a sharp departure from what has been demanded by governance activists, raters, and regulators—and reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. Based on personal interviews and the authors’ broad and deep experience working with executives and directors from dozens of the world’s largest firms, including Apple, Boeing, Ford, Infosys, and Lenovo, Boards That Lead tells the inside story behind the successes and pitfalls of this new leadership model and explains how to: • Define the central idea of the company • Ensure that the right CEO is in place and potential successors are identified • Recruit directors who add value • Root out board dysfunction • Select a board leader who deftly bridges the divide between management and the board • Set a high bar on ethics and risk With a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey, and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for businesspeople everywhere—whether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite.

Identity, Power and Influence in the Boardroom
Identity, Power and Influence in the Boardroom

Author: Meena Thuraisingham

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-04-11

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1351039482

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Over the last decade, the role of the board of directors in deciding on potentially value-creating decisions has gained greater prominence. Following extensive board research into the origins, reasons, effects and consequences of boardroom influence of directors, this book prepares directors for playing a more influential role in shaping such decisions. Boards are only as effective as the relationships their members have with each other. Despite this, many of the published guides on board work do not focus sufficiently on the human dimension of governance, nor has there been a comprehensive understanding of the effect that group membership has on the decision behaviour of the individual director, or vice versa. The author offers the reader actionable strategies to successfully navigate the complex dynamics that are inevitable when a group of powerful individuals with strong individual identities has to work together. Without a realistic understanding of the silent risks that a suboptimal dynamic may pose to the processes of making critical decisions, boards may find their decision outcomes compromised. Despite the best intentions, such dynamics can have a chilling effect on an individual director’s contribution, marginalising or diminishing the value of their contribution and their influence on the board. This book will be a valuable resource guide for aspiring and experienced company directors wishing to strengthen their effectiveness in the advisory role and develop a more influential voice in shaping the strategic direction of their companies.

The Strategic Context of External Network Ties
The Strategic Context of External Network Ties

Author: Mason A. Carpenter

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Prior research has given little consideration to external determinants of knowledge and perspective that may affect directors' ability to contribute to the strategic decision making process. We introduce a framework on board involvement in which the potential for directors to contribute to firm governance and strategic decision making (i.e., in the form of monitoring and advising top management) is critically influenced by (1) whether they hold appointments to other firms with more or less-related product, corporate, and international strategies, and (2) whether such a portfolio of board appointments is suited to the degree of environmental instability surrounding the focal firm. Hypotheses are tested with a comprehensive data set that combines archival reports with behavioral data obtained through surveys of Forbes 1000 directors and CEOs. The findings suggest that while the simple number of director appointments to other boards does not influence board involvement, appointments that have the potential to provide directors with relevant strategic knowledge and perspective do enhance the board's ability to contribute to the strategic decision making process. Support for the theoretical framework presented in this study helps answer recent calls for board research that examines the quot;substantive contextquot; of board appointments, and moves our understanding beyond the number of such appointments or director independence as predictors of board decision making. The findings also show the potential power of models that link the broader, social-structural context in which boards are embedded, as well as the environmental conditions that surround them, with micro-behavioral processes that occur inside the quot;black boxquot; of corporate boards.

Boards at Work : How Directors View their Roles and Responsibilities
Boards at Work : How Directors View their Roles and Responsibilities

Author: Philip Stiles

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-03-29

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0191580937

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Boards of directors are coming under increasing scrutiny in terms of their contribution in monitoring and controlling management, particularly in the wake of high-profile corporate frauds and failures, and also their potential to add value to organizational performance through involvement in the strategy process and through building relationships with key investors. Despite the importance of these issues, not only to organizations but also arguably to national competitiveness, the nature of board activity remains largely a black box, clouded by prescriptions, prejudices, and half-truths. This book responds to calls for greater scrutiny of boards of directors with an in-depth examination of directors of UK organizations, drawing on the accounts of directors themselves as to their roles, influence, and the potential and limits to their power. Much work on boards of directors has labelled the board as a rubber stamp for dominant management, and non-executive directors in particular have been variously described as poodles, pet rocks, or parsley on the fish. Such accounts are rooted in assumptions of board activity that are essentially adversarial in nature, and that the solution to the 'problem' of reconciling the interests of managers with those of shareholders is to increase the checks and balances available to the board of directors. The findings of this study show that boards, in many cases, are far more than passive rubber stamps for management and that non-executives are encouraged to act as trusted advisers to the executives and the chief executive, rather than solely monitors of executive activity. Boards are important mechanisms in maintaining the strategic framework of the organization through setting the boundaries of organizational activity. The potential of the board members, in particular the non-executives, to fulfil such a mandate depends on a number of factors, including ability, willingness to engage with the organizational issues, and the degree of knowledge they have relevant to the host firm. Above all, the degree of trust built between members of the board, and between the board and key external constituencies, is at the heart of effective board behaviour.

How Experience and Network Ties Affect the Influence of Demographic Minorities on Corporate Boards
How Experience and Network Ties Affect the Influence of Demographic Minorities on Corporate Boards

Author: James D. Westphal

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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We examine how outside directors who are demographic minorities on corporate boards of directors can exert influence over strategic decision making. Drawing from social psychological research on minority influence and self-categorization in small groups, our theoretical framework suggests that in order to predict whether minorities will become involved in board decision making and exert influence over strategy, one must look beyond the board itself to consider the prior experience of directors in a minority role on other boards, as well as the larger, social structural context in which demographic differences are embedded. We suggest that demographic minorities can avoid out-group biases that would otherwise minimize their influence when they have prior experience on other boards or network ties to other directors that enable them to create the perception of similarity with the majority. We assess the effects of minority status according to five different demographic characteristics, including functional background, industry background and education, as well as race and gender, for a large sample of corporate outside directors at Fortune/Forbes 500 companies. The results support our theoretical framework. We find that (1) the prior experience of minority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance their ability to exert influence on the focal board, while the prior experience of minority directors in a majority role can reduce their influence; (2) the prior experience of majority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance the influence of minority directors on the focal board, and (3) minority directors are more influential if they have direct or indirect social network ties to majority directors through common memberships on other boards. We discuss implications for research on corporate governance, organizational demography, and intergroup relations.

High Performance Boards
High Performance Boards

Author: Didier Cossin

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-06-22

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 1119615658

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A comprehensive guide to transforming boards and achieving best-practice governance in any organisation. When practising good governance, the board is the vital driver of organizational success, while fostering positive social impact and economic value creation. At all levels, executives around the world are faced with complexities rising from disruptive business models, new technologies, socio-economic changes, shifting political circumstances, and an array of other sources. High Performance Boards is the comprehensive manual for attaining best-in-class governance, offering pragmatic guidance on improving board quality, accountability, and performance. This authoritative volume identifies the four dimensions, or pillars, which are crucial for establishing and maintaining best-practice boards: the people involved, the information architecture, the structures and processes, and the group dynamics and culture of governance. This methodology can be applied to any board in the world, corporate or non-profit organization, regardless of size, sector, industry, or context. Readers are introduced to a fictitious senior board member – an amalgamation of board members from well-known organisations – and follow her as she successfully handles real-life challenges with effective governance. Drawn from the author's 20 years of practice and confidential work with boards across the world, this book: Demonstrates how high-performance boards innovate and refine their practices Discusses examples of board failures and challenges, including case studies from both for-profit and non-profit organisations including international organizations and state-owned agencies or even ministries Provides a proven framework to create best-in-class governance Includes a companion website featuring tools for board assessment and board practice High Performance Boards has inspired more than 3000 board members around the world. This book is essential reading for professionals and managers interested in governance and board members, senior managers, investors, lawyers, and students of governance.

The Future of Boards
The Future of Boards

Author: Jay William Lorsch

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1422183211

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The role of boards in charting a wiser course for the future. We are at a crucial juncture in the evolution of business and the economy. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent global recession, we must now reshape the structures and practices of business leadership to avoid going down the same destructive path again. This is largely a question of governance - in particular, the role corporate boards must play in wrestling with critical issues like CEO performance and succession, executive compensation, and corporate strategy. Edited by Harvard Business School professor Jay Lorsch, the preeminent authority on corporate boards, The Future of Boards gathers thought leaders, CEOs, and some of the most experienced voices at Harvard Business School to describe the current situation, identify and analyze the most important issues at hand, and chart a wiser course for the future. The chapters include Bill George on how boardroom conflicts can be understood and managed; Krishna Palepu on how directors can gain the knowledge necessary to effectively oversee strategy; Lorsch himself and colleague Rakesh Khurana on how boards can set reasonable compensation while still motivating top talent; and Katharina Pick and Kenneth Merchant on group behavior pathologies in the boardroom and ways to overcome them. The book also includes point-counterpoint chapters by corporate governance experts David Nadler and Raymond Gilmartin on the right model for board leadership. The Future of Boards should be required reading for CEOs, business and industry leaders, policymakers, and anyone else seeking to influence and even reshape business in the twenty-first century.

Boards, Governance and Value Creation
Boards, Governance and Value Creation

Author: Morten Huse

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-04-19

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1139463829

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What is the role of boards in corporate governance? How should they be structured in order to maximize value creation? This 2007 book looks at the role of boards in a variety of different countries and contexts, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large corporations. It explores the working style of boards and how they can best achieve their task expectations. Board effectiveness and value creation are shown to be the results of interactions between owners, managers, board members and other actors. Board behaviour is thus seen to be a result of strategizing, norms, board leadership, and the decision-making culture within the boardroom. Combining value creation, behavioural and ethical approaches to the study of boards, this work offers a systematic framework which will be of value to graduate students and researchers in the field of corporate social responsibility and business ethics.

The Oxford Handbook of Business Groups
The Oxford Handbook of Business Groups

Author: Asli M. Colpan

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2010-08-05

Total Pages: 828

ISBN-13: 0191613983

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Business groups - large, diversified, often family-controlled organizations with pyramidal ownership structure, such as the Japanese zaibatsu, the Korean chaebol and the grupos economicos in Latin America - have played a significant role in national economic growth, especially in emerging economies. Earlier variants can also be found in the trading companies, often set up in Britain, which operated in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Business groups are often criticized as premodern forms of economic organization, and occasionally as symptomatic of corrupt 'crony capitalism', but many have shown remarkable resilience, navigating and adjusting to economic and political turbulence, international competition, and technological change. This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of business groups around the world. It examines the adaptive and competitive capabilities of business groups, and their evolutionary dynamics. 16 individual country chapters deal with business groups from Asia to Africa, the Middle East to Latin America, while overarching chapters consider the historical and theoretical context of business groups. With contributions from leading experts, The Oxford Handbook of business groups provides a comprehensive, empirically and theoretically rich guide for scholars and policy-makers.