This paper investigates the impact of social ties on the effectiveness of boards of directors. When the CEO and a number of directors belong to the same social networks, the CEO is less likely to be dismissed for poor performance. The results are robust to different measures of performance and networks, consistent after controlling for CEO ability, and not due to connected boards’ superior info...

Diverse boards have been seen as providing impetus for initiating change. However, diversity may introduce conflict and impede decision making, which could hinder the ability of the firm to make strategic change, especially in times when firm performance is low. Integrating threat-rigidity theory and team diversity research, we examine how board gender diversity, firm performance, and the power...

Companies facing new requirements for governance are scrambling to buttress financial-reporting systems, overhaul board structures--whatever it takes to comply. But there are limits to how much good governance can be imposed from the outside. Boards know what they ought to be: seats of challenge and inquiry that add value without meddling and make CEOs more effective but not all-powerful. A boa...

When minority shareholder laws are strong, then minority shareholders should have more power to affect board composition and structure. Therefore, countries with strong minority shareholder laws should have ‘good’ corporate boards of directors (i.e., one that looks out for minority shareholders’ bests interests). Assuming that boards with independent directors and fewer directors are indicative...

Potential Solution? March/April 2007 Timothy Hoffmann Metromedia International Group, Inc.’s board of directors faced a perplexing dilemma. Approached with an attractive offer from a potential purchaser, the board wanted to sell the corporation’s primary asset and cease operations. In order to consummate the transaction, however, Delaware law and the company’s certificate of incorporation requi...

Both authors contributed equally to the paper. The helpful comments of Ron Burt, Jerry Davis, Ranjay Gulati, Paul Hirsch, Mark Shanley, and Brian Uzzi are appreciated. This study seeks to reconcile traditional sociological views of the corporate board as an instrument of elite cohesion with recent evidence of greater board activism and control over top management. We propose that CEO-directors ...

Reformists argue that Japanese firms maintain inefficiently few outside directors, while theory suggests market competition should drive firms toward their firm-specifically optimal board structure (if any). The debate suggests three testable hypotheses. First, perhaps board composition does not matter. If so, then firm performance will show no relation to board structure, but outsiders will be...

Diverse boards have been seen as providing impetus for initiating change. However, diversity may introduce conflict and impede decision-making, which could hinder the ability of the firm to make strategic change, especially in times when firm performance is low. Integrating threat-rigidity theory and team diversity research, we examine how board gender diversity, firm performance, and the power...

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