Unravelling the human side of the board: the role of motivational and cognitive compatibility in board decision making

Abstract

This paper unravels the human side of board behaviour by focusing on the way in which the cognitive and motivational compatibility of board members affects cooperative board decision making. On the one hand we examine the cognitive (dis-) similarities of board members that influence board members' ability to cooperate and, on the other, we discuss board members' intrinsically- and/or extrinsically-dominated motivational patterns that determine their willingness to cooperate. We link board members' ability and willingness to cooperate to the board's decision-making process and show that motivational as well as cognitive compatibility are of critical importance for achieving cooperative board decision making.