Perspectives on the decision-making style of the board chair

Levrau, Abigail; Berghe, Lutgart Van den

doi:10.1057/jdg.2013.18

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Practitioners believe that the chair of a board has a strong influence on effective corporate governance, particularly in Anglo governance systems (Kakabadse & Kakabadse, ; Levrau & Van den Berghe, ; Roberts, ). Yet despite this practical importance, the academic literature highlights there is much to learn by “further examining the board chair–firm performance relationship” (Withers & Fitza, : 1352).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of board chairs on director engagement: A case‐based exploration of boardroom decision‐making

Bezemer

Nicholson

Pugliese

2018

Corporate Governance

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Manuscript type Empirical Research question/issue This study seeks to better understand how board chairs, as leaders and equals, shape the context for other directors to engage in their governance roles. Research findings/insights Using a combination of video‐taped board meetings and semi‐structured interviews with directors at three corporations, we found a generalized and negative association between chair involvement and directors' engagement during board meetings. Theoretical/academic implications Our empirical results suggest that the chair's role can be viewed as a paradox, requiring both (i) strong leadership to counter managerial power, and (ii) a more subtle orientation as peer to fellow directors that enables other board members to contribute to boardroom decision‐making. Moreover, our study revealed the transitory nature of both chair contributions and directors' engagement during meetings, highlighting the potential and need for further unpacking of the temporal dimensions of boardroom decision‐making processes. Practitioner/policy implications Our analysis suggests a revision of the implicit prescription in the literature for board chairs to be active leaders who lead from the front. Given that chair involvement appears to reduce director engagement during meetings, our research hints at the need for a more supportive role of the chair during boardroom decision‐making that is in line with non‐traditional leadership models https://youtu.be/urcJHJHRXwc.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of board chairs on director engagement: A case‐based exploration of boardroom decision‐making

Bezemer

Nicholson

Pugliese

2018

Corporate Governance

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“…For dual firms, the ability of the chairman to act as a "collective learning enabler" by indentifying and overcoming "learning challenges" will determine the ability of the board to transform individual inputs (human, social and cultural capital) into collective learning (i.e., shared understanding and decision and improved "board collective social capital"). Reference [19] framework for board effectiveness supported on the concept of "intellectual capital" and the literature on Chairman/NED role competencies and skills 7,22,31,38,39,75,85,88,89] give support to the model's [ Table 2). We draw the "board learning challenges" [B] (see Table 1) from the literature on learning organisations [4,[16][17][18]56,70] of which there is little record of research in the context of boards, despite some suggestions that we could apply earlier concepts of the Behavioural Theory of the Firm to boardroom dynamics [11].…”

Section: Proposed Model Of Board Learning Capability (Blc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, researchers [88] interviewed company secretaries from some 39 large companies of the BEL20 and BEL mid (33 of which had separate chairman and CEO roles) using an interview protocol and the Decision Making Grid introduced by Hal et al (1964) in order to enquire into (prevalent) board leadership styles. Chairmen were identified as exhibiting a highly heterogeneous leadership style which impacted on the quality of the decisions made on and the group's commitment to those decisions.…”

Section: Garratt (2010)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chairmen were identified as exhibiting a highly heterogeneous leadership style which impacted on the quality of the decisions made on and the group's commitment to those decisions. It is suggested that the chairman should be able to transform the boardroom into an effective collective decision-making body, by removing "negative group dynamics" [88]. It is concluded that the use of particular board leadership styles calls for specific personal competencies and attributes of the chairman that go beyond the structural aspects of board leadership, and that include creativity, criticality, preparedness and commitment [88].…”

Section: Garratt (2010)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is suggested that the chairman should be able to transform the boardroom into an effective collective decision-making body, by removing "negative group dynamics" [88]. It is concluded that the use of particular board leadership styles calls for specific personal competencies and attributes of the chairman that go beyond the structural aspects of board leadership, and that include creativity, criticality, preparedness and commitment [88]. The study concludes with a plea for the use of the "pluralistic theoretical lenses" so as to be able to explain the behavioural dimensions of chairman leadership [88].…”

Section: Garratt (2010)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Delving into the Boardroom “Black Box”: A Research Model of “Board Learning Capability” (BLC)

Morais¹,

Kakabadse²

2013

OJBM

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This paper aims to shed light into boardroom processes by bringing together the literature on organization behaviour and that of boardroom process in order to form a model of boardroom learning capability. Board process is viewed as primarily a learning process whereby individual members with their knowledge, skills and external networks engage in a collective learning process that culminates in a "shared understanding" about the problems and respective solutions and increased "board social capital". It can be argued that boards that do better at this "collective learning process" will display greater effectiveness and ultimately better firm performance. In learning organisation's terms, one can speak of "board learning capability" (BLC). The chairman of the board has a pivotal role in facilitating and mastering the collective learning process in the boardroom. Central to our model are the interplay between the "chairman role and skill set" and the "board learning challenges". Building on research literature that focuses on learning organisations and on boardroom processes, we propose a model of "board learning capability" (BLC), which could shed additional light on the boardroom process dynamics. In the future, an organisation could develop a "board's learning capability" measure to complement "good governance" indices which rely heavily on structure and composition proxies, despite limited empirical evidence. Empirical testing of the model can be of value for boardroom development and for risk and reputational concern minimization by uncovering differences in "boardroom learning capability" in different governance domains.

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Work of a Chair in Europe: Context, Content and Evolution

Shekshnia

Zagieva²

2019

Leading a Board

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Perspectives on the decision-making style of the board chair

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

The influence of board chairs on director engagement: A case‐based exploration of boardroom decision‐making

The influence of board chairs on director engagement: A case‐based exploration of boardroom decision‐making

Delving into the Boardroom “Black Box”: A Research Model of “Board Learning Capability” (BLC)

Work of a Chair in Europe: Context, Content and Evolution

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