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This study aims to analyse the line managers and employees’ use of lean task boards over time in Norwegian municipalities using action learning theory. The research question was the following: what kind of action learning processes do the line managers and employees’ use of the lean task board promote in municipalities’ healthcare units?

This qualitative case study data from a Norwegian municipality involved analyses of 750 internal self-recorded logs from task board sessions from 6 different units and 25 semi-structured interviews of managers and employees.

The task board works for line managers to make employees responsible for forwarding ideas, solutions and implementation of new actions. The use of the task boards contributes to systemising work through establishing new routines and improving orderliness at work. The line managers used the task boards as a project management system to track progress in the purchasing of diverse equipment and initiatives to improve professionalism and their units’ facilities. The study explains the learning challenges for managers using the lean task board, as the method promotes finding experience-based solutions that do not involve critical reflection and use of theory.

The lean task board is well-suited for managers to promote learning processes that counteract chaos in local healthcare organisations. However, the task board has limitations as a method for improving services amongst healthcare units and for solving difficult problems.

The study contributes to understanding how action learning theory can be applied to the analysis of the results of lean task board sessions

The article focuses on the role that ‘confidential information’ plays in relation to the work of board-level worker representatives, and their interaction with other worker participation mechanisms. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to explore the implications of confidentiality of board-level information for effective worker participation. The main argument is that if board-level worker representatives are excessively constrained by confidentiality provisions, their capacity to work effectively is brought into question.

A qualitative research was undertaken on a sample of 12 public limited companies in Slovenia. In each company, three interviews were conducted: with the CEO or board member, with a board-level worker representative and with a works councilor, who was not a board-level worker representative (36 interviews in total). Each of these interviewees has a particular role, and interest, in handling confidential information. Thus, a method of triangulation by groups was employed. The interviews were conducted at the company premises during October and November 2017. The results were analysed by the content analysis method.

This research confirms that in the majority of companies, nearly all of the material and information discussed by the board is deemed to be ‘confidential’. Consequently, communication between board-level worker representatives and the works council is rendered difficult, if not impossible. The results indicate an urgent need to redefine the concept of confidentiality and to reinforce the level of communication between management boards and works councils.

The research is limited to one country, which, by no means, is fatal, as international comparisons, although of greater breadth, often lose some depth of analysis (especially, for example, where there are differences in legal contexts). Although the issues discussed in the paper are of relevance to all those with an interest in worker participation mechanisms, they cannot be generalised mostly due to national specificities.

The question of confidentiality as between the board, board-level worker representatives, works councils, trade unions and other form of worker representation, despite its importance, has been raised quite rarely in research. In this research, three groups of stakeholders (CEO/board member, board-level workers representative and works council members) have been covered, with the aim to extend the understanding of how confidentiality obligations impact relationships between these.

This study examines the effect of working capital management and board diversity on firm profitability and firm value for a sample of Indonesian firms listed in the LQ45 index. The interaction of board diversity components with working capital management adds a comprehensive discussion to enhancing working capital management efficiency.

This study engages a panel multiple regression method. Data from a sample of LQ45 companies from 2010 to 2016 are analysed using a fixed and a common effect model. Board diversity is further analysed in interaction variables, whether it holds the moderating role in the relationship of working capital and firm performances. This study operates return on capital employed (ROCE) as the proxy of profitability performance and EVA-Spread for the firm's value performance. The simultaneous effect test is used for the robustness test.

The results indicate that working capital management and board diversity have no significant impact towards profitability. However, they significantly positively impact firm value, meaning that the market is attracted by effective working capital management and board diversity. However, the interaction variable analysis shows that gender diversity and education level diversity weaken the impact of working capital management towards firm value.

This study is not limited to one industry; therefore, future studies may focus on one industry and detect the pattern of working capital components in the particular industry. This study focuses on quantitative numbers to explain board diversity's interaction in working capital management to maximise shareholders' wealth. Future studies may consider a qualitative discussion to describe the quality of women's presence on the board, education level and educational background of board members.

Unlike most studies in which authors relate working capital and board diversity to firm performances separately, this study combines both components and analyses whether board diversity can act as a moderator effect. As part of corporate governance, it is expected that board diversity can enhance working capital management efficiency.

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

Taking a micro-perspective of governance that includes problem-solving and stakeholder involvement capabilities as part of the strategic steering role, we wish to contribute to the understanding of the human side of governance. Thus we have studied the relationships between the board and its management and stakeholders, and in so doing we recognize internal and external actors as well as the board itself, and how they all contribute to the implementation of the governance function.

Based on an interpretative approach that focuses on change over time, we performed a qualitative empirical study of the governance of Robotdalen, a small non-profit public organization in Sweden that is a joint public and private collaboration. This chapter forms part of a longitudinal study that has been carried out since 2009. It is based primarily on interviews with board members, management and other stakeholders, and complemented by document studies and observations.

Governance practice entails multiple and multilevel tasks, and the tensions between representativeness/professional boards, conformance/performance, and controlling/partnering up with management, are prevalent in both small non-profit and public organizations. According to our results the apparent choice between the extremes of each tension is, however, not a choice at all but rather a balancing act. In trying to balance tensions through collaboration between managers, board, financiers, and the hosting university, new governance structures and practices emerge at the organizational level.

By following the process of the emergence of a new board, we illustrate how various actors work together to co-produce governance functions in practice. In the past little or no effort has been made to take into account contextual factors such as organizational size – an aspect that may influence or shape board characteristics and work methodology. We therefore attempt to do so in our chapter, by studying the emergence of a new board in a small public organization, what possible paradoxes and tensions are involved in such work, and how such tensions are managed.

The purpose of this paper is to study if and how the evaluation of the boards in the top Nordic male football clubs affects the boards’ composition and work.

The study includes all the clubs in the two top divisions in each of the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The study makes use of a questionnaire where 66 (out of 145) chairmen answer 17 questions concerning the board composition and work on a five‐point Likert‐scale.

The responses were related to whether the board is annually evaluated or not. Descriptive statistics demonstrates that more than half of the clubs have an annual board evaluation. Most common is that the Chairman performs the evaluation himself/herself with help from designated board members; the evaluation being performed through informal discussions. A total of 44 clubs have a nominee committee. Almost all of the clubs transfer the result of the board evaluation to its nominee committee, most commonly verbally. Furthermore, results show that board evaluation has a significant positive effect on the following functions of football boards: review of business plan, strategy, objective and budget; discussion on short‐term development; discussion on long‐term development; and work efficiency.

The results of this study are consistent with a similar study of listed Nordic companies. The main difference between the results of the two studies is that clubs, unlike publicly listed companies, almost always perform the evaluation through internal interviews rarely using external consultants and individual anonymous questionnaires.

Drawing from Upper-Echelons Theory (UET), this paper aims to examine whether an increasing number of board members studying and working overseas, especially in Anglo countries, provides some impetus for increased corporate environmental disclosures (CED) in Vietnam.

This study used quantitative data collection and analysis. The data collection involved a content analysis of annual, sustainability and integrated reports to capture the quality and quantity of CED. The authors subsequently developed ordered probit models to quantitatively test the hypotheses.

The authors find that board members studying in Anglo countries positively impact firms’ levels of CED in emerging economies. However, overseas work experience is found to be an insignificant explanatory variable. Further, the findings suggest that, in Vietnam, Chairs appear to be more influential than chief executive officers in affecting CED levels.

Despite the positive influence of overseas study, the authors find overall levels of CED in Vietnam remain relatively low. This suggests the necessity of dialogue about potential reform in CED policies, which could involve the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements. In addition, to enhance sustainability disclosures, shareholders should appoint board members who possess international qualifications.

This study adds to the literature exploring the impacts of Anglo cultural traits of board members on CED levels, within an economy transitioning from a communist ideology to a market-oriented system context. The connection between international study and cultural norms, beliefs and traditions in these countries and their positive influence on directors’ values and attitudes towards CED have not yet been studied. The study also extends UET by examining the potential positive influence of different national contexts on board members’ education levels.

No component of the human capital management has been more overlooked by companies than the process of welcoming new recruited employees – the on-boarding phase. This paper aims to present a three-component perspective of on-boarding and a contribution to measuring the employees’ perceptions based on three dimensions of welcoming: structured corporate welcome, manager welcome and coworkers welcome.

An empirical study based on a self-reported survey was conducted to test the model and an on-boarding employees’ perceptions proposed scale. The authors hypothesized that the three on-boarding components relate positively to some critical work outcomes (e.g. work engagement and affective organizational commitment). Analyses using a sample of 347 workers from Portuguese firms showed that the three-component on-boarding scale had adequate validity and all three components of on-boarding were positively related to the work outcomes included in this study.

Findings suggest that an effective onboarding process, based on the three-component perspective (corporate welcome, manager welcome and coworkers welcome), is a significant contribution to promote organizational affective commitment and work engagement of new employees.

The paper addresses the need for organizations to design on-boarding programs based on an integrated perspective, not only formal corporate activities but also preparing managers and coworkers to host effectively new employees. Strong association with work outcomes enables a better understanding on how onboard can contribute to an engaged and retained workforce.

This article focuses on group work with children using a board game format. Combining the principles of group work and board games helps to engage and motivate children and adolescents to address and work through their difficulties. Lifegames are a series of six therapeutic board games developed for group work with children and adolescents who encounter adversity in their life as a consequence of bereavement, family break up, poor relationships, bullying, chronic illness or obesity. The games facilitate the understanding and disclosure of the complex feelings experienced by children and young people when they are confronted with traumatic life events. The games encourage and assist the participants to obtain and maintain behavioural change. Lifegames are a means to assist professionals in their group work with children and adolescents.

The purpose of this paper is to survey chairmen's perceptions of female board representation in five Nordic countries, focussing on whether the chairman's perception of board work is related to gender diversity, and on differences between high- and low-risk firms.

The authors combine data from a questionnaire directed to the chairmen of the boards in Nordic listed companies with data on firm characteristics and board composition.

The authors find that the chairmen (97.5 percent male) are significantly less satisfied with female board members as compared to male ones. The authors also find that firms with nomination committees have more gender diverse boards, as well as indications of a more positively perceived contribution of female representation in high-risk firms.

The study is restricted to perceptions of chairmen for listed Nordic firms. The low response rate of 20.1 percent is a severe limitation.

The increasing practice of using nomination committees in the Nordic countries seems advantageous from gender balance perspective.

The authors contribute to the literature on gender diversity in boards by providing results from a board intern perspective.