The current study examines the efficacy of outside directors on the corporate boards of 157 non-financial Indian companies for the year 2008. The research particularly investigates if the monitoring by grey director (non-executive non-independent) and independent director influences firm performance. Research finding reveals that while the proportion of grey directors on board has marginally deteriorated effect, the independent director's proportion has an insignificant positive effect on firm value. Outcome of research has significant implications for devising a board model for companies in India that have a significant ownership concentration and insider control. Independent directors require greater representation on the board in lieu of other non-executive outside directors.

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Purpose This study aims to evaluate the impact of gender diversity on corporate boards on firms’ financial performance in the context of the Indian information and technology (IT) sector. The Companies Act 2013 brought forth mandatory provisions for the appointment of women directors for a certain class of companies. This study explores the case of board gender diversity in the Indian IT sector’s unique setting. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a fixed effect panel data regression model to achieve its objectives. Two widely used diversity measures, Blau Index and Shannon Index, have been used to enhance the robustness of the results. Findings The results of the study indicate an insignificant relationship between gender diversity and firms’ financial performance. Even the diversity indices portray insignificant results confirming the outcomes of the study. The study indicates that IT sector firms have not been able to leverage the benefits of board gender diversity. Research limitations/implications The results of the study have important policy implications for the government, regulatory bodies and corporates. The outcomes point out that the benefits that could have accrued based on the diversity aspect could not be harnessed, as the women’s representation on corporate boards is extremely low. Policymakers and government shall focus on devising stringent laws so that better representation of women directors can be used for the interests of the firms. Originality/value The study is an attempt to fill the gap in the extant literature which has a scarce number of studies conducted in the unique setting of the IT sector (both in developed and developing economies). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on the influence of board gender diversity in the IT sector of a developing economy, backed by socio-cultural reasons.

With growing regulatory changes with respect to the composition of the board of directors, the regulation for the appointment of women directors on the corporate boards has seen an upsurge in recent times. It is quite evident to believe that with so many countries mandating the appointment of women, the reasons are not just social but also economic in nature. The extant literature provides enough evidence based on various social and psychological theories that support the diversity element for better decision-making. This study is an attempt to analyze the scientific articles to understand the growth of this concept under various dimensions. The search, undertaken over the Scopus database, led to the retrieval of a total of 547 articles published during the period 1989–2021 which, after final filtration, brought the total number of results to 352 articles. VOSviewer software was employed for the purpose of analyzing these articles which helped in the formulation of bibliometric citation, co-citation, and co-word maps. The findings suggest the prominent countries, significant authors, major studies, and top journals in this domain. In addition, the study also identifies the various dimensions such as financial performance, social performance, environmental performance, sustainability disclosures being impacted due to the presence of gender diversity. The study is significant and unique based on the pretext that it uses the Scopus database for the purpose of bibliometric mapping whereas past studies have used the Web of Science database, thus the study’s outcome made a strong corroboration in identifying emerging paradigms in the gender diversity literature.

PurposeThis study aims to highlight the impact of introducing women directors to board committees, thereby empowering them to contribute to decision-making, and as a result, influence firms’ financial performance in an emerging economy.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a fixed-effects panel data regression model to test the impact of gender diversity on corporate boards as well as board committees on firms’ financial performance. Two widely used diversity measures, the Blau index and the Shannon index, have been used to enhance the robustness of the results.FindingsThe findings suggest that gender diversity on prominent board committees (remuneration committee and nomination committee) positively affects firms’ financial performance when measured by the market-based performance measure, but it is insignificant when measured through accounting-based performance indicator. Furthermore, the benefits of gender diversity accrue to the firms only when women are part of prominent committees and are engaged in governance mechanisms, rather than just being appointed on corporate boards as a means of tokenism.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to investigate the relationship between gender diversity and financial performance through the lens of committee assignments. Moreover, the unique cultural and institutional setting offered by India, which is an emerging economy, provides a fertile ground for understanding the role of women leaders in the workforce.