Social Ontology of the Modern Corporation: Its Role in Understanding Organizations

Veldman, Jeroen; Willmott, Hugh

doi:10.1108/s0733-558x20220000078009

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 111 publications

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“…Finally, the focus on gender diversity stands out, although the resulting findings are inconsistent. Interestingly, less attention has been paid to the evolving role and influence of owners and their impact on strategic decision‐making processes as well as how boards engage with societal calls to rethink the purpose of their corporation (e.g., Veldman & Willmott, 2022). Together with the need to assess the full impact of the current pandemic on the strategy role of boards (e.g., Zattoni & Pugliese, 2021), we think these are fruitful areas for future research.…”

Section: Synthesis and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a synthesis of the board‐strategy relationship: A literature review and future research agenda

Bezemer

Pugliese

Nicholson

et al. 2022

Corporate Governance

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Research Question/Issue The strategy role of the board of directors is a contentious topic in both theory and practice and the debate on what boards should or should not do around firm strategy has intensified with changes in global corporate governance. Boards face interventionist regulatory developments, calls for changes in their composition, growing owner engagement, and societal questioning on the corporation's very purpose. With this review, we aim to assess how the research agenda in this area has evolved with these developments. Research Findings/Results Our analysis of 152 articles published in 45 high‐quality journals between 2008 and 2020 reveals that the board‐strategy literature remains dominated by traditional input–output approaches using archival data. There are, however, some green shoots opening up the debate by recognizing the importance of the firm's specific context, applying alternative or complementary theoretical lenses, exploring the underlying dynamics and processes, and using more sophisticated modeling techniques. Theoretical implications We identify three research directions with the potential to advance the research agenda, namely, untangling the complex, multilevel interplay between stakeholders involved in the strategy process, embracing the processual and temporal nature of the board‐strategy relationship, and unpacking the impact of social context to understand when boards matter for strategy. Practical implications Our results indicate that the strategy role of the board is evolving and broadening. Most notably the integration of CSR‐related themes into the board‐strategy debate, and the leveraging of board diversity in strategic decision‐making appear to be important issues for contemporary boards.

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Section: Synthesis and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%