Defining the strategic role of boards and measuring boards' effectiveness in strategy implementation

Corporate Governance

Volumn 8, Issue 5, 2008, Pages 649-660

  Brauer, Matthias ^a   Schmidt, Sascha L ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ST GALLEN   (Switzerland)

^b EBS BUSINESS SCHOOL   (Germany)

Author keywords

Boards; Organizational behaviour; Organizational effectiveness; Strategic management

Indexed keywords

EID: 54249096518     PISSN: 14720701     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/14720700810913304     Document Type: Article

References (72)

1. Abbott, A. (1992), "From causes to events: notes on narrative positivism", Sociological Methods and Research, Vol. 20, pp. 428-55.
2. Andrews, K.R. (1981), "Corporate strategy as a vital function of the board", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 59 No. 6, pp. 174-84.
3. Ansoff, H.I. (1987), "The emerging paradigm of strategic behavior", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 8, pp. 501-15.
4. Bower, J.L. (1970), Managing the Resource Allocation Process, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
5. Brauer, M. and Schmidt, S. (2006), "Exploring strategy implementation consistency over time: the moderating effects of industry velocity and firm performance", Journal of Management and Governance, Vol. 10, pp. 205-26.
6. Burgelman, R.A. (1983), "A model of the interaction of strategic behavior, corporate context, and the context of strategy", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 61-70.
7. Burgelman, R.A. (1996), "A process model of strategic business exit - implications for an evolutionary perspective on strategy", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 193-214.
8. Chakravarthy, B.S. and White, R.E. (2001), "Strategy process: forming, implementing and changing strategies", in Pettigrew, A., Thomas, H. and Whittington, R. (Eds), Handbook of Strategy and Management, Sage Publications, London.
9. Cyert, R. and March, J. (1963), A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
10. Daily, C.M., Dalton, D.R. and Cannella, A.A. (2003), "Corporate governance: decades of dialogue and data", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 28, pp. 371-82.
11. Davis, G.F. and Thompson, T.A. (1994), "A social movement perspective on corporate control", Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 39, pp. 141-73.
12. Demb, A. and Neubauer, F.-F. (1992), The Corporate Board: Confronting the Paradoxes, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
13. Deutsch, Y., Keil, T. and Laamanen, T. (2007), "Decision-making in acquisitions: the effect of outside directors' compensation on acquisition patterns", Journal of Management, Vol. 33, pp. 30-56.
14. Eisenhardt, K. (1989), "Building theories from case study research", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 532-50.
15. Fiegener, M.K. (2005), "Determinants of board participation in the strategic decisions of small corporations", Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, September, pp. 627-50.
16. Fields, D. (2007), "Governance in permanent whitewater: the board's role in planning and implementing organizational change", Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 15, pp. 334-44.
17. Fiske, S. and Taylor, S. (1991), Social Cognition, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
18. Golden, B. and Zajac, E. (2001), "When will boards influence strategy? Inclination X power=Strategic change", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22, pp. 1087-111.
19. Goold, M. and Campbell, A. (1990), "Non-executive directors' role in strategy", Long Range Planning, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 118-19.
20. Helmer, H.W. (1996), "A director's role in strategy", Directors and Boards, Vol. 20, pp. 22-5.
21. Hendry, K. and Kiel, G.C. (2004), "The role of the board in firm strategy: integrating agency and organizational control perspectives", Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 12, pp. 500-20.
22. Herman, E.S. (1981), Corporate Control, Corporate Power, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
23. Hillmann, A.J. and Dalziel, T. (2003), "Boards of directors and firm performance: integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 383-96.
24. Huse, M. and Gabrielsson, J. (2004), "Past trends and future challenges in research on boards and governance: a review of major management journals between 1990-2002", paper presented at 4th EURAM Annual Conference, St Andrews, 5-9 May.
25. Huse, M. and Schøning, M. (2004), "Group dynamics and decision processes in boards of directors: observations from flies on the wall", paper presented at 20th EGOS Colloquium, Ljubljana, July 1-3.
26. Jensen, M.C. (1986), "Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance and takeovers", American Economic Review, Vol. 76, pp. 323-9.
27. Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. (1976), "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs, and ownership structure", Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, pp. 305-60.
28. Johnson, J.L., Daily, C.M. and Ellstrand, A.E. (1996), "Boards of directors: a review and research agenda", Journal of Management, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 409-38.
29. Judge, W. and Zeithaml, C.P. (1992), "Institutional and strategic choice perspectives on board involvement in the strategic decision process", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 766-94.
30. Kemp, S. (2006), "In the driver's seat or rubber stamp? The role of the board in providing strategic guidance in Australian boardrooms", Management Decision, Vol. 44, pp. 56-73.
31. Krippendorff, K. (1980), Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology, Sage Publications, London.
32. Letendre, L. (2004), "The dynamics of the boardroom", Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 101-4.
33. Lorsch, J.W. and MacIver, E. (1989), Pawns or Potentates? The Reality of America's Corporate Boards, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
34. Love, L., Priem, R. and Lumpkin, G. (2002), "Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels of centralization", Journal of Management, Vol. 28, pp. 611-27.
35. McNulty, T. and Pettigrew, A. (1996), "The contribution, power and influence of part-time board members", Corporate Governance: An International Review., Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 160-79.
36. McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D. (1997), "Event studies in management research: theoretical and empirical issues", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40, pp. 626-57.
37. Mace, M.L. (1971), Directors: Myth and Reality, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.
38. Mintzberg, H. (1978), "Patterns in strategy information", Management Science, Vol. 24 No. 9, pp. 934-48.
39. Nicholson, G.J. and Kiel, G.C. (2004), "A framework for diagnosing board effectiveness", Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 12, pp. 442-60.
40. Noda, T. and Bower, J.L. (1996), "Strategy making as iterated processes of resource allocation", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, Summer (special issue), pp. 159-92.
41. O'Neal, D. and Thomas, H. (1998), "Evaluating board performance", in Hamel, G., Prahalad, C.K., Thomas, H. and O'Neal, D. (Eds), Strategic Flexibility: Managing in a Turbulent Environment, Wiley & Sons, Irving, TX.
42. Pettigrew, A. (1992), "On studying managerial élites", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13, pp. 163-82.
43. Pfeffer, J. (1972), "Size and composition of corporate boards of directors: the organization and its environment", Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 17, pp. 218-28.
44. Pye, A.J. and Pettigrew, A.M. (2005), "Studying board context, process and dynamics: some challenges for the future", British Journal for Management, Vol. 16, pp. 27-38.
45. Ravasi, D. and Zattoni, A. (2006), "Exploring the political side of board involvement in strategy: a study of mixed-ownership institutions", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 43, pp. 1671-702.
46. Richter, A. and Schmidt, S. (2005), "How does strategy process influence strategy content? Antecedents of consistency between resource allocation decisions and corporate strategy", Schmalenbach Business Review, Vol. 57, pp. 332-50.
47. Rindova, V.P. (1999), "What corporate boards have to do with strategy: a cognitive perspective", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 953-75.
48. Roberts, J.T., McNulty, T. and Stiles, P. (2005), "Beyond agency conceptions of the work of the non-executive director: creating accountability in the boardroom", British Journal of Management, Vol. 16, pp. 5-26.
49. Ruigrok, W., Peck, S. and Keller, H. (2006), "Board characteristics and involvement in strategic decision-making: evidence from Swiss companies", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 43, pp. 1201-26.
50. Sonnenfeld, J. (2002), "Good governance and the misleading myth of bad metrics", Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 106-13.
51. Sonnenfeld, J. (2004), "What makes great boards great", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 80 No. 9, pp. 106-13.
52. Staw, B. (1981), "The escalation of commitment to a course of action", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 6, pp. 577-87.
53. Stiles, P. (2001), "The impact of the board on strategy: an empirical examination", Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 38, pp. 627-50.
54. Stiles, P. and Taylor, B. (2001), Boards at Work: How Directors View their Roles and Responsibilities, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
55. Sundaramurthy, C. and Lewis, M. (2003), "Control and collaboration: paradoxes of governance", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 28, pp. 397-415.
56. Tihanyi, L., Johnson, R., Hoskisson, R. and Hitt, M. (2003), "Institutional ownership differences and international diversification: the effects of boards of directors and technological opportunity", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 46, pp. 195-211.
57. Van de Ven, A.H. (1992), "Suggestions for studying strategy process - a research note", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13, Summer (special issue), pp. 169-88.
58. Van de Ven, A.H. and Poole, M.S. (1995), "Methods for studying innovation development in the Minnesota Innovation Research Program", in Huber, G.P. and Van de Ven, A.H. (Eds), Longitudinal Field Research Methods. Studying Processes of Organizational Change, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
59. Van de Ven, A.H., Polley, D.E., Garud, R. and Venkataraman, S. (1999), The Innovation Journey, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
60. Walsh, J.P. and Seward, J.K. (1990), "On the efficiency of internal and external control mechanisms", Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15, pp. 421-58.
61. Westphal, J.D. (1999), "Collaboration in the boardroom: the consequences of social ties in the CEO/board relationship", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42, pp. 7-24.
62. Westphal, J.D. and Fredrickson, J.W. (2001), "Who directs strategic change? Director experience, the selection of new CEOs, and change in corporate strategy", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22, pp. 1113-37.
63. Winkler, J.T. (1987), "The fly on the wall in the inner sanctum: observing company directors at work", in Moyser, G. and Wagstaff, M. (Eds), Research Methods for Elite Studies, Allan & Unwin, London.
64. Yin, R. (1994), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
65. Yoshikawa, T. and Phan, P. (2005), "The effects of ownership and capital structure on board composition and strategic diversification in Japanese corporations", Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 13, pp. 303-12.
66. Zahra, S.A. (1989), "Boards of directors and corporate social responsibility performance", European Management Journal, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 240-7.
67. Zahra, S.A. (1990), "Increasing the board's involvement in strategy", Long Range Planning, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 109-17.
68. Zahra, S.A. and Pearce, J. (1989), "Boards of directors and corporate financial performance: a review and integrative model", Journal of Management, Vol. 15, pp. 291-344.
69. Zahra, S.A. and Stanton, W. (1988), "The implications of board of directors composition for strategy and corporate performance", International Journal of Management, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 229-36.
70. Dalton, D.R., Daily, C.M., Ellstrand, A.E. and Johnson, J. (1998), "Meta-analytic review of board composition, leadership structure, and financial performance", Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 269-90.
71. OECD (1999), Principles of Corporate Governance, OECD Publications, Paris.
72. Useem, M. (2003), "Corporate governance is directors making decisions: reforming the outward foundations for inside decision-making", Journal of Management and Governance, Vol. 7, pp. 241-53.