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1 – 10 of over 225000Margaret M. Cullen and Niamh M. Brennan
Boards of directors are assumed to exercise three key accountability roles – control, monitoring and oversight roles. By researching one board type – investment fund boards – and…
Abstract
Purpose
Boards of directors are assumed to exercise three key accountability roles – control, monitoring and oversight roles. By researching one board type – investment fund boards – and the power relations around those boards, the purpose of this paper is to show that such boards are not capable of operating the three key roles assumed of them.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted 25 in-depth interviews and a focus group session with investment fund directors applying a grounded theory methodology.
Findings
Because of their unique position of power, the authors find that fund promoter organisations (that establish and attract investors to the funds) exercise control and monitoring roles. As a result, contrary to prior assumptions, oversight is the primary role of investment fund boards, rather than the control role or monitoring role associated with corporate boards. The findings can be extended to other board-of-director contexts in which boards (e.g. subsidiary boards, boards of state-owned entities) have legal responsibility but limited power because of power exercised by other parties such as large shareholders.
Practical implications
Shareholders and regulators generally assume boards exercise control and monitoring roles. This can lead to an expectations gap on the part of shareholders and regulators who may not consider the practical realities in which boards operate. This expectations gap compromises the very objective of governance – investor protection.
Originality/value
Based on interviews with investment fund directors, the authors challenge the control-role theory of investment fund boards of directors. Building on our findings, and following subsequent conceptual engagement with the literature, the authors differentiate control, monitoring and oversight roles, terms which are often used interchangeably in prior research. The authors distinguish between the three terms on the basis of the level of influence implied by each.
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Roberto Pascual and Martí Larraza‐Kintana
The control role of the Board of Directors is aimed at monitoring the decisions and actions undertaken by managers in order to protect stockholders’ interests. Considerable…
Abstract
The control role of the Board of Directors is aimed at monitoring the decisions and actions undertaken by managers in order to protect stockholders’ interests. Considerable theoretical and empirical research has analyzed whether directors’ behavior is consistent with their fiduciary responsibility, but this research has reported inconsistent findings. This paper offers a comprehensive review of both theoretical and empirical literature on the control role of the board and suggests several guidelines for future research.
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Sunil Sahadev, Keyoor Purani and Tapan Kumar Panda
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between managerial control strategies, role-stress and employee adaptiveness among call centre employees.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between managerial control strategies, role-stress and employee adaptiveness among call centre employees.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a conceptual model, a questionnaire-based survey methodology is adopted. Data were collected from call centre employees in India and the data were analysed through PLS methodology.
Findings
The study finds that outcome control and activity control increase role-stress while capability control does not have a significant impact. The interaction between outcome control and activity control also tends to impact role-stress of employees. Role-stress felt by employees has significant negative impact on employee adaptiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The sampling approach was convenience based affecting the generalisability of the results.
Practical implications
The paper provides guidelines for utilising managerial control approaches in a service setting.
Originality/value
The paper looks at managerial control approaches in a service setting – a topic not quite researched before.
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Ellen Ernst Kossek, Brenda A. Lautsch, Matthew B. Perrigino, Jeffrey H. Greenhaus and Tarani J. Merriweather
Work-life flexibility policies (e.g., flextime, telework, part-time, right-to-disconnect, and leaves) are increasingly important to employers as productivity and well-being…
Abstract
Work-life flexibility policies (e.g., flextime, telework, part-time, right-to-disconnect, and leaves) are increasingly important to employers as productivity and well-being strategies. However, policies have not lived up to their potential. In this chapter, the authors argue for increased research attention to implementation and work-life intersectionality considerations influencing effectiveness. Drawing on a typology that conceptualizes flexibility policies as offering employees control across five dimensions of the work role boundary (temporal, spatial, size, permeability, and continuity), the authors develop a model identifying the multilevel moderators and mechanisms of boundary control shaping relationships between using flexibility and work and home performance. Next, the authors review this model with an intersectional lens. The authors direct scholars’ attention to growing workforce diversity and increased variation in flexibility policy experiences, particularly for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality, which is defined as having multiple intersecting identities (e.g., gender, caregiving, and race), that are stigmatized, and link to having less access to and/or benefits from societal resources to support managing the work-life interface in a social context. Such an intersectional focus would address the important need to shift work-life and flexibility research from variable to person-centered approaches. The authors identify six research considerations on work-life intersectionality in order to illuminate how traditionally assumed work-life relationships need to be revisited to address growing variation in: access, needs, and preferences for work-life flexibility; work and nonwork experiences; and benefits from using flexibility policies. The authors hope that this chapter will spur a conversation on how the work-life interface and flexibility policy processes and outcomes may increasingly differ for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality compared to those with lower work-life intersectionality in the context of organizational and social systems that may perpetuate growing work-life and job inequality.
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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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
This study is useful to board directors and chairmen of listed companies, as it can help them to better understand and manage board behaviour.
Originality/value
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.
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Wajdi Ben Rejeb, Sarra Berraies and Dorra Talbi
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Irene Nalukenge, Ven Tauringana and Joseph Mpeera Ntayi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) of microfinance institutions (MFIs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was cross-sectional and correlational. In all, 70 Ugandan MFIs were surveyed and the data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20 to test the nine hypotheses which were put forward. The hypothesized relationships were tested using the ordinary least squares regression.
Findings
The findings based on multiple regression analysis suggest that board role performance, expertise and Association of Microfinance Institutions in Uganda (AMFIU) membership are significant predictors of the ICFR. However, board independence and separation of CEO and chairman roles are not significant predictors. The results also show that the firm-specific control variables (auditor type, size, accounting qualification and age) are also not significant.
Research limitations/implications
This study has limitations in that it is cross-sectional, thus limiting monitoring changes in behavior over time and also because the effectiveness of the ICFR was assessed using perceptions.
Practical implications
Efforts by regulators and other stakeholders to improve the ICFR must focus on the corporate governance aspects such as board expertise and ensure that the board performs its roles.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the existing literature on the corporate governance and ICFR by documenting the relationship between the corporate governance and ICFR. The study complements the previous studies on the ICFR by demonstrating that board expertise and board role performance improve the ICFR. Such evidence does not currently exist. The findings also indicate that an MFI which is a member of AMFIU was found to have better ICFR supporting self-regulation.
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Henrik Nielsen and Thomas Borup Kristensen
This paper aims to study the relations between lean operations, lean principles in finance functions and the roles of finance functions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relations between lean operations, lean principles in finance functions and the roles of finance functions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses structural equation modeling to analyze data from 408 different firms in the Danish production and services sectors. A dyadic approach is applied, as a sub-sample of 107 chief operating officers in the responding firms is used to investigate the construct validity, reliability and average deviation index of the instrument measuring the roles of finance functions.
Findings
The paper finds that lean-operation firms emphasize four different yet interdependent roles of finance functions. The paper also finds that lean operation leads to firms’ finance functions adopting lean principles.
Research limitations/implications
This paper characterizes lean-operation firms as contextually ambidextrous to predict relations between lean operation and roles of finance functions. The paper expands prior case study findings on the roles of finance functions in lean-operation firms, and the findings of the paper underline that finance functions continue to play an important role in these firms.
Practical implications
Decision-makers in lean-operation firms should not be hesitant with respect to integrating finance function workers into the lean operation. Furthermore, decision-makers should understand that a balanced emphasis of the roles of finance functions is necessary to avoid overemphasizing exploitation at the expense of exploration, or vice versa.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to provide large-scale evidence of the roles of finance functions in lean-operation firms and to show that lean principles diffuse to finance functions. Furthermore, the paper introduces a new instrument for measuring finance function roles, based on the competing values framework.
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Goran Sladić, Branko Milosavljević, Dušan Surla and Zora Konjović
The goal of this paper is to propose a data access control framework that is used for editing MARC‐based bibliographic databases. In cases where the bibliographic record editing…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this paper is to propose a data access control framework that is used for editing MARC‐based bibliographic databases. In cases where the bibliographic record editing activities carried out in libraries are complex and involve many people with different skills and expertise, a way of managing the workflow and data quality is needed. Enforcing access control can contribute to these goals.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed solution for data access control enforcement is based on the well‐studied standard role‐based access control (RBAC) model. The bibliographic data, for the purpose of this system, is represented using the XML language. The software architecture of the access control system is modelled using the Unified Modelling Language (UML).
Findings
The access control framework presented in this paper represents a successful application of concepts of role‐based access control to bibliographic databases. The use of XML language for bibliographic data representation provides the means to integrate this solution into many different library information systems, facilitates data exchange and simplifies the software implementation because of the abundance of available XML tools. The solution presented is not dependent on any particular XML schema for bibliographic records and may be used in different library environments. Its flexibility stems from the fact that access control rules can be defined at different levels of granularity and for different XML schemas.
Research limitations/implications
This access control framework is designed to handle XML documents. Library systems that utilise bibliographic databases in other formats not easily convertible to XML would hardly integrate the framework into their environment.
Practical implications
The use of an access control enforcement framework in a bibliographic database can significantly improve the quality of data in organisations where record editing is performed by a large number of people with different skills. The examples of access control enforcement presented in this paper are extracted from the actual workflow for editing bibliographic records in the Belgrade City Library, the largest public city library in Serbia. The software implementation of the proposed framework and its integration in the BISIS library information system prove the practical usability of the framework. BISIS is currently deployed in over 40 university, public, and specialized libraries in Serbia.
Originality/value
A proposal for enforcing access control in bibliographic databases is given, and a software implementation and its integration in a library information system are presented. The proposed framework can be used in library information systems that use MARC‐based cataloguing.
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