Most research on corporate directors has focused on two roles: agency and resource dependence. While these two roles are theoretically and practically distinct, previous research has used the same classification scheme for measuring board composition regardless of role examined. Our paper examines the resource dependence role of directors and posits that the widely used insider/outsider categorizations do not adequately capture this role of directors. A taxonomy of directors is presented specifically for studying the resource dependence role. We then apply the taxonomy to a sample of US airline firms undergoing deregulation, and examine how board composition changes parallel the changing resource dependence needs of the firms. We conclude that the board's function as a link to the external environment is an important one, and that firms respond to significant changes in their external environment by altering board composition. Boards of directors have received considerable attention recently, both in practitioner and academic venues. A large body of literature examines the agency role of directors, referring to the governance function in which directors serve shareholders by ratifying the decisions of managers and monitoring the implementation of those decisions (

Pay secrecy is a contentious issue in many organizations and a controversial one in our society. However, there has been little scholarly research on this topic. We hope to address this void by exposing the complexity of pay secrecy as a construct. What are its costs and benefits? What factors affect the link between pay secrecy and the extent to which it is a cost or benefit? This article reveals the complexity of pay secrecy and, we hope, generates ideas for much new research in the broad management field. Pay secrecy in organizations is a contentious issue and has been for a long time. Take, for example, the following memoranda that were exchanged in October of 1919: POLICY MEMORANDUM (October 14, 1919) Forbidding Discussion among Employees of Salary Received It has been the policy of the organization to base salaries on the value of services rendered. We have, therefore, a long established rule that the salary question is a confidential matter between the organization and the individual. It is obviously important that employees live up to this rule in order to avoid invidious comparison and dissatisfaction. Recently several cases have come to the notice of management where employees have discussed the salary question among themselves. This memorandum should serve as a warning that anyone who breaks this rule in the future will be instantly discharged.

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