Boardroom or War Room: An Expectational Analysis of CFO – Executive Board Relationships in Adventist Local Conferences

Theodore L Brown

doi:10.14738/abr.64.4414

Abstract

The Board of Directors represents the highest level of organizational governance, and is the governing body in corporate organizations; primarily responsible for the oversite of the operations and interests of the shareholders and/or stakeholders of the business and/or entity. The basis of this quantitative paper was instigated by the thought that the perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Local Conference leadership consequentially impact how the relationships of Chief Financial Officer(s) (CFOs/Treasurers) and their Executive Board(s) are viewed and interact based upon perceived expectations. The corporate relationships between the Chief Financial Officer(s) (CFOs) and Executive Board(s) have continued to emerge as a result of changing societal and global expectations of what is expected from organizations from shareholders, stakeholders and governments. The 21 st century inception of significant governmental regulations mainly called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to address and counteract emerging and widespread corruption in large USA businesses and organizations, extensive financial reporting fraud, institutional mis-management and material non-compliance in accounting practices. This legislative act redefined the relational expectations and practices of board governance and board member duties, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) corporate and organizational accountability. The magnitude of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has also affected the relational practices of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs/Treasurers) and Executive Board(s) in Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) conferences. Data was collected from a purposeful sample of N=399 at fifty-seven Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Local Conferences in the North American Division territory inclusive of Bermuda, Canada and the United States of America (USA) with a 55% response rate. A Mixed-Methods sequential exploratory research design utilizing Descriptive Statistics, ANOVAs and Chi-Square Analysis was used focusing on the quantitative aspects and results of this study. Discussion and Conclusion are explored and disclosed, and the Implications of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Board relationships on organizational governance and accountability pertaining to the overall organizational climate, effectiveness, operational efficiency are discussed.

Highlights

CFO-Executive Board Relationships in SDA Context: The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, as world-wide organization, has continued to experience exponential financial growth and expansion (Adventist World – North American Division (NAD) 2013, p. 5)
While the North American Division (NAD) Working Policy (2015-2016) and the SDA Accounting Manual (2011) accentuate the expected functional and governance relationships of conference CFOs (Treasurers) and Executive Boards with each other; uncertainty may still tend to exist pertaining to the amplitude of their relationships, and its sway in terms of outcomes in areas of organizational efficiency, effectiveness and productivity
Research Question 1b: Is there congruence between the perceptions of the presidents, treasurers and executive board members as they relate to the way the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the treasurers have changed?

Summary

Introduction

CFO-Executive Board Relationships in SDA Context: The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, as world-wide organization, has continued to experience exponential financial growth and expansion (Adventist World – NAD 2013, p. 5). The purpose of the board and board service in corporate America has evolved over twenty years ago from a perceived position of cushiness, “morning presentations by management”, “liquid lunch”, “cigars” and “a place for glory where people were recognized”; to being held to highest level of commitment and service to governance in addition to having a broader understanding of business, economic, governmental industry issues impacting the organization such as creating and increasing company marketability and sustainability, crisis management, compliance (SARBOX), maximizing shareholder and stakeholder value and wealth, profitability, addressing risk and regulatory challenges, investing in social responsibility and strategic oversite (Merker, 2018; Raymond, 2018; Banerjee and Kaya, 2017; Madhani, 2017; Talaulicar, Judge and Mallon, 2017; Venkatraman, 2015; Colvin, 2013).

Results

Conclusion