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Given prior limited research on boards in clean-tech enterprises, we investigate what constitutes an effective board exploring in-depth: who the board members are, what roles they perform and how these roles are performed.

Our study is an inductive, multiple case study of five clean-tech enterprises established in Norway.

We find that board composition in terms of complementary resources that the top management team lacks added by outside directors, their increased engagement in the board service role and board behavioural integration are important constituents of board effectiveness, which in turn translates into the increased levels of the firm’s strategic action capabilities, both action speed and breadth.

We suggest that these three constituents (prevalence of outside directors, board service role engagement and board behavioural integration) together make up the board contribution, which is most valued by clean-tech enterprises in the earliest stages of their development. Future research could be conducted in other types of high-tech start-ups and/or in other hybrid social enterprises to strengthen the generalizability of our findings.

While the mainstream governance research focuses on for-profit boards in large established companies, our study adds to the research on non-for-profit governance and boards in clean-tech enterprises that are both small entrepreneurial and hybrid social enterprises.

The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to examine among the board role performance attributes, which ones are critical for sustainability reporting practices; second, to establish the relationship between the overall board role performance and sustainability reporting practices; and third, to establish the relationship between board role performance and the three dimensions of sustainability reporting practices.

This study is correlational as it aims to establish relationships. Data were collected within a period of one year. Usable questionnaires were received from 48 financial services firms in Uganda.

On average, financial services firms in Uganda follow the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reporting standards to the extent of 64%. The study results also indicate that board role performance is significantly associated with sustainability reporting practices. Board role performance is more associated with social sustainability reporting than environmental and economic sustainability reporting. In terms of board roles, service role is more associated with the sustainability reporting practices than the control and strategic role of the board.

The board has to provide the necessary support to management by passing decisions aimed at improving sustainability reporting practices and providing the necessary resources such as budgets for training of staff in sustainability reporting standards. Policymakers may require companies to prepare sustainability reports annually.

This study provides insights on the initial understanding of the link between board role performance and sustainability reporting practices. This study sheds more light on the relationship between board role performance and the dimensions of sustainability reporting. The study further enlightens the academic community and practice on which board roles are critical for enhanced sustainability reporting. This study therefore posts that it is no longer a matter of having board members but, rather, the role these board members play.

The purpose of this paper is to draw from multiple theories of upper echelons, stakeholder, agency, resource-based view and stewardship to establish the extent to which human capital (other than that of the board itself) in service organisations affect board role performance in those service sector firms.

This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Analyses are conducted using SPSS and Analysis of Moment Structures software on a sample of 128 service firms in Uganda.

Findings reveal that dimensions of employee safety, entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial development, employee welfare and employee relations fit the model of human capital and predict up to 69.1 per cent of the variance in board role performance. The results of this study reveal that board role performance is affected by prior decisions, for example, to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, targeting employees that augment firm characteristics like existence of appropriate human capital. Essentially, an improvement in the quality of human capital explains positive variances in board role performance.

Cross-sectional data do not allow for testing of the process aspect of the models; however, they provide evidence that the models can stand empirical tests. Additional research should examine the process aspects of human capital and board role performance.

Most companies in developing nations have relied on normative guidelines in prescribing what boards need to enhance performance, probably explaining why some boards have not been successful in their role performance. This research confirms that appropriate human capital, which can be leveraged through CSR ideals of employee safety, recognition, welfare and training in entrepreneurship, consistent with the stakeholder theory, can facilitate the board in the performance of its roles. In the developing country context, organisations’ boards could use these findings as a guideline, that is, what to focus on in the context of human capital development in organisations because doing so improves their own role performance.

This study is one of the few that partly account for endogeneity in the study of boards, a methodological concern previously cited in literature (Bascle, 2008; Hamilton and Nickerson, 2003). Empirical associations between board role performance and organisational performance would not be useful unless we are able to grasp the causal mechanisms that lie behind those empirical associations (Hambrick, 2007). Thus, this study contributes to literature that tries to account for variances in board role performance and supports a multi-theoretical approach as a relevant framework in the study of human capital and board role performance.

This study aims to analyse the relationships between board processes, board role performance and board effectiveness for a cross-country (UK and Romania) sample of comparable European listed companies.

The research design is quantitative in nature and based on the survey method, a self-administered questionnaire which was send to 342 chairmen of selected Romanian and British listed companies and which contains validated statements measured through a seven-point Likert-type scale and grouped in validated constructs.

This study found further empirical evidence that board processes are stronger determinants of board effectiveness than board characteristics and that board roles mediate the relationship between board processes and board effectiveness. It further confirmed the relevance of the three board processes mentioned by Forbes and Milliken (1999) in their seminal work on board decision-making.

The main limitation of this study is the relatively small number of responses (55), which indicates a reduced reliability and generalizability of the results. However, several steps were taken to assure the homogeneity of the sample, starting with a unique data set of firms of comparable size and industry representation.

This study is useful to board directors and chairmen of listed companies, as it can help them to better understand and manage board behaviour.

This study contributes to the limited body of research that investigates specific board process constructs derived from the small team literature and their effect on board effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between board of directors’ roles namely strategy, service and control roles and ambidextrous innovation. This study also aims to determine whether the independence and gender diversity of boards have mediating effects in this relationship.

On the basis of a quantitative approach, the authors conducted a survey on all Tunisian-listed firms. A partial least square method was used to analyze the quantitative data. The authors also conducted semi-structured interviews with a sample of boards’ members of the surveyed firms followed by a thematic analysis of the discourses to discuss the results.

Results revealed that ambidextrous innovation is negatively linked to board’s control role. The outcomes of this research show also that ambidextrous innovation is positively associated with board’s service role and that the gender diversity moderates positively this link. Findings do not indicate a significant relationship between board’s strategy role and ambidextrous innovation but show evidence that the relationship is negatively moderated by independent directors, while positively moderated by gender diversity.

This research sheds light on the effects of Boards’ roles on ambidextrous innovation and the moderating effect of board’s gender diversity and independence as well. This paper addresses the gap in the literature as this thematic has not been studied, offering key insights with regard to corporate governance of companies looking to achieve ambidextrous innovation.

The purpose of this study is to compare the use of performance information by board members and executives of a large Australian community service organization in order to ascertain what they focused on and how they worked together in effecting organizational governance.

Field based case study using stewardship theory.

While board members and executives worked closely together within a mutually agreed organizational space, there was a clear bifurcation of focus with the board concerned more with the financial performance and the executive more with service performance. Further differentiation of role with respect to financial performance was observed such that the board's attention was directed most to issues that presented the greatest risk to the organization. The study found that board members and executives “cut across” traditionally assigned roles, thus demonstrating a joint mode of organizational governance that was underpinned by organizational policies, processes and structures.

This paper provides rich empirical evidence in relation to matters that have been subject to high levels of theorisation; by answering recent calls from scholars for in-depth research on governance processes; and by identifying the common threads that link research on not-for-profit governance with stewardship theory and the extended concepts of accountability. It contributes to practice by providing a comprehensive explanation of a contemporary governance arrangement. It contributes to the public policy debate since a key issue currently under review in Australia, and New Zealand, to name just two jurisdictions, is the attribution of responsibilities by key decision makers in charities, in particular, the vexed question of management involvement in governance processes.

The paper provides rich empirical data about an issue of ongoing importance to third sector organizations.

This study examined the human and social capital factors associated with higher post‐succession firm performance in family enterprises in Singapore. We also investigated the moderating influence of the board of directors in terms of its service role as stewards of the enterprise. We found that a successor’s industry experience and diversity of network ties were positively associated with firm performance and boards that focused their role as advisors to the successor enhanced post‐succession firm performance.

This study aims to examine the contribution of board role performance and isomorphic forces on internet financial reporting.

This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 40 financial services firms. The study’s unit of analysis was a firm. Chief Internal Auditors and Chief Finance Officers were the study’s unit of inquiry. Data were analyzed through correlation coefficients and linear regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

The results suggest that board role performance and isomorphic forces are significant predictors of internet financial reporting. However, board role performance is not a significant predictor of internet financial reporting in the presence of isomorphic forces. The control and strategic roles of the board are positively and significantly associated with internet financial reporting unlike the service role. Only the coercive isomorphism is positively and significantly associated with internet financial reporting unlike the normative and mimetic isomorphism.

This study provides initial empirical evidence on the contribution of board role performance and isomorphic forces on internet financial reporting using evidence from Uganda’s financial service firms. To the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first perception-based study on internet financial reporting.

The purpose of this paper was twofold. First, to explore the currently performed board roles. Second, to investigate the relationship between board role performance and compliance with international financial reporting standard (IFRS) disclosure requirements among microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Uganda.

This study used a mixed methods research design. The relationship between board role performance and compliance with IFRSs requirements was tested using Partial Least Squares. Confirmatory Factory Analysis and interviews were conducted to establish the performed board roles.

The findings suggest that among the known board roles of strategic, service and control, the control role is mostly performed. Results further suggest that board role performance is a significant predictor of compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. In terms of control variables, MFI size and membership to the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda were significant. Other control variables (liquidity, leverage and profitability) are not significantly associated with compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements.

Compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements was based on one financial year owing to a lack of data for many years.

The results are important for governing boards regarding improving compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. The results specifically suggest that MFIs’ boards must focus on performing the control role if compliance with IFRS disclosures requirements is to improve.

This paper is original because it uses perceptions to measure board role performance, unlike previous studies that used proxies such as board size and proportion of non-executive directors to infer board role performance. The study also reveals that it is only the control role that is important in enhancing compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. Such evidence does not currently exist.

Past literature on board research has centred on board structure and firm performance. Since empirical studies do not reveal a conclusive relationship between the two, attention has shifted towards board role performance. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

The paper examines three conceptual models for the studying of board role performance: structure, process, and mediation.

Current literature provides little consensus as to the specific configuration for effective board role performance.

First, the study examines various aspects of board role performance. This is in contrast with previous research which largely investigates board role performance in general or under the dominant agency perspective which emphasises the board's monitoring role. Second, unlike traditional governance models, the role of board process is explicitly advocated here. Third, the three conceptual models regarding the relationship among board structure, process and performance give an alternative avenue for researchers to explain inconsistencies in past board research. They complement the growing interest in opening up the “black‐box” of decision making that has been manifested in studies involving top management teams.