Board Chairperson Research Articles

Advancing women’s careers: what can we learn from co‐principals’ stories?

This article draws on longitudinal research into the establishment of co‐principalships. It discusses this innovative approach to school management in relation to women’s negotiations of their motivations, aspirations and strategies for career advancement and work/life balance. Longitudinal case studies of three primary school co‐principal initiatives were carried out between 1995 and 2000. Repeat interviews and observations with co‐principals, board chairpersons and school staff were conducted. Interviews were also undertaken with parents; students; and representatives of state education agencies, national governing boards, principals’ associations and teacher unions, alongside analysis of school and state policy documents. The resulting case study narratives described how each co‐principalship was initiated and either established or dis‐established. A discourse analysis of these narratives then examined how links between discourse, knowledge and power were being negotiated and challenged, as the new subject position of “co‐principal” was being constructed in New Zealand. This article analyses the significance of the similarities and differences in the women’s career backgrounds, motivations and strategies for moving into management positions. As they initiated their co‐principalships, the women variously went “against the grain” and/or co‐opted elements of the new public management corporate executive model for school leadership, which was introduced within the radical state restructuring during the late 1980s and early 90s in New Zealand.

Regulatory Power: Can a Feminist Poststructuralist Engage in Research Oversight?

This personal narrative focuses on a specific experience with the regulation and potential discrediting of diverse forms of research—service as the chairperson of an institutional review board. An attempt to adjust to contemporary legislative expectations for the protection of human participants in research in one institutional setting is described. Because of the complex, ambiguous, multivocal, and political nature of research and research regulation, the author has come to believe that qualitative researchers who become informed critical activists regarding research ethics and regulation are immediately needed as voices in the construction of appropriate practices that would protect all those involved—subjects/participants, researchers, volunteer academic reviewers, individual informants, the general public—while at the same tiome facilitating respect for research diversity. Valued qualitative research constructs—emergence, reflexivity, and the recognition of power and political agendas that place ethical practice and research diversity at the forefront of public discourses—are discussed as essential to the critical regulation of research.

Association between board of director characteristics and the amount of voluntary audit committee disclosures

This study empirically examines the association between certain director characteristics and the extent of voluntary audit committee disclosure in annual reports. Results suggest that Singapore's publicly traded firms are more likely to voluntarily disclose audit committee related information as: the number of board members increases; different individuals occupy the roles of CEO and board chairperson; and the proportion of independent directors serving on the board increases. Findings, however, fail to show any association between the amount of voluntary audit committee disclosure and the percentage of executive directors' ownership. Documented findings are of interest and benefit to various parties including regulators, corporate governance reformists, and corporate management. For instance, findings imply that a positive by-product of implementing major corporate governance reforms currently championed by corporate governance reformists will be an increase in audit committee disclosures. As a result, there will be less pressure on regulators to develop, introduce, and enforce mandatory audit committee disclosures that may be potentially intrusive to a firm's management.

A new world order in East Asia?

The outcome of the war in Iraq served as a stark reminder that the US perceives its unrivaled military superiority as largely freeing it from the imperative to take account of the views of its allies. At the same time, the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region is shifting, as Chinas economic rise continues and Japan's mounting fiscal woes erode its influence overseas. Kusuma Snitwongse, chairperson of the advisory board of Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Security and International Studies, Thailand, paints a vivid picture of a region whose future is clouded by uncertainty. Can the growing threat from a nuclear North Korea be contained? Will economic integration alleviate tension between China and Taiwan? Is ASEAN capable of playing an effective role on the world stage? The order that emerges will be shaped by numerous forces and, the writer hopes, will be one that is based on the precepts of multilateralism and on the traditional Asian virtue of abiding by the consensus.

State Standards in the Local Context: A Survey of School Board Members and Superintendents

This study examines the perceptions of superintendents and school board members in Pennsylvania with regard to state academic standards and standardized tests. From a universe of 501 Pennsylvania districts, we selected a sample of 51 districts (approximately 10%) at random. We sent surveys to superintendents, school board chairpersons, and three additional school board members from each district. Thirty-one of the 51 superintendents completed surveys for a 61% rate of return. For school board members, 76 of the 204 surveyed completed surveys for a 37% rate of return. Results of the survey show that although superintendents and school board members view standards and testing in similar ways, they differ with regard to their knowledge of standards, the ideological position they take with regard to testing, and the degree to which they believe testing has been implemented in their districts. In addition, school board members and superintendents perceive that the most influential groups in the standards-setting process are administrators, teachers, and parents.

Keeping the Public in the Dark

Drawing on a survey of parole board chairpersons in 45 of 50 states (90%) and the District of Columbia conducted between October 1997 and March 1998, this study focuses on the availability and ease of access of information concerning the parole of murderers to the public. Two important findings are reported: (a) The record-keeping systems of parole boards generally contain information that makes it possible to distinguish between prisoners convicted of various types of murder, and (b) the official publications and reports released by parole boards do not generally distinguish among categories of murder in reporting parole information and virtually never provide information on parole decisions with respect to capital murderers not sentenced to death.

The Relationship between Board Characteristics and Voluntary Improvements in Audit Committee Composition and Experience*

AbstractThis study empirically examines the relation between certain board of director characteristics and the extent that audit committee composition voluntarily exceeds minimum mandated levels and includes outside directors with financial reporting and audit committee knowledge and experience. This study focuses on board characteristics because the board directly controls audit committee membership. Such staffing decisions can directly affect the ability of the audit committee to monitor management's financial reporting process on behalf of the board. Results suggest that Canadian firms that voluntarily include more outside directors on the audit committee than the mandated minimum have larger boards with more outsiders serving on those boards and are more likely to segregate the board chairperson position from the CEO/president positions. Additionally, firms that voluntarily create audit committees composed of outsider members with a breadth of relevant financial reporting and audit committee knowledge and experience have boards that are larger, have more outside members, and are less likely to be chaired by the CEO/president. Implications of these findings for auditors, institutional investors, regulators, and other interested parties are discussed.

Self-serving disclosures by chairpersons of failing UK companies

This paper investigates information disclosures made by the chairpersons of boards of directors in 120 failing UK companies. There are four main findings. Firstly, chairpersons excessively blame poor performance on exogenous factors rather than managerial decisions. Secondly, almost half of chairpersons do not candidly disclose problems that are apparent when they write their statements. Thirdly, prospective disclosures are more optimistic than disclosures about past performance despite significantly worse performance after the chairpersons' statements. Finally, chairpersons' compensation is negatively associated with bad news disclosures. Overall, the results indicate that chairpersons in failing companies hide bad news, and they have incentives to do so. © City University of Hong Kong.

The Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Voluntary Improvements in Audit Committee Composition and Experience

This study empirically examines the relation between certain board of director characteristics and the extent that audit committee composition voluntarily exceeds minimum mandated levels and includes outside directors with financial reporting and audit committee knowledge and experience. This study focuses on board characteristics as the board directly controls audit committee membership. Such staffing decisions can directly affect the ability of the audit committee to monitor management's financial reporting process on behalf of the board. Results suggests that Canadian firms which voluntarily include more outside directors on the audit committee than the mandated minimum have larger boards with more outsiders serving on those boards and are more likely to segregate the board chairperson position from the CEO/president positions. Additionally, firms who voluntarily create audit committees composed of outsider members with a breadth of relevant financial reporting and audit committee knowledge and experience have boards that are larger, have more outside members, and are less likely to be chaired by the CEO/president. Implications of these findings for auditors, institutional investors, regulators and other interested parties are discussed.

Tony Wigram — Interviewed by Helen Loth

Tony Wigram has been instrumental in many of the key political developments which have made music therapy the respected and well-organised profession that it is today in the UK. He is currently the Professor and Head of PhD studies in Music Therapy at Aalborg University in Denmark. He is also Head III Music Therapist at Harper House Children's Service, and Research Advisor to Horizon NHS Trust. Past President of both the World Federation of Music Therapy and the European Music Therapy Confederation, and a former Chair of BSMT and APMT, he travels extensively, teaching at universities in Belgium, Italy and Spain. He is a Research Associate of the Faculty of Music, Melbourne University. Helen Loth trained in 1985 and worked on the APMT committee in the late 1980s. She is currently Head Music Therapist at Haringey Healthcare NHS Trust. She is also Chairperson of the Management Board of the British Journal of Music Therapy.

Boards of Directors and the Adoption of a CEO Performance Evaluation Process: Agency — and Institutional — Theory Perspectives

Using both agency and institutional theories, we examined factors associated with the board’s adoption of a formal process for evaluating the performance of the corporation’s chief executive officer (CEO). Our sample was drawn from the hospital industry. Results show that an independent board chairperson, the level of market competition and the degree of managed care penetration were significant predictors of whether or not the board had adopted a formal CEO evaluation process. These findings imply that initiatives to improve governance effectiveness based on agency theory should take into account the institutional environment of corporate boards.

Separate, But Not Independent: Board Leadership Structure in Large Corporations

Board activists continue to suggest – even demand – that the CEO and board chairperson positions be held separately, to ensure governance independence at board level. A regression analysis of large corporations provides no evidence of differences in independence across a range of dimensions. Even when the positions are held separately, the chairperson is often the former CEO, holds substantial equity in the firm and, in many cases, has familial ties to current executives.

Gifted Education at a Crossroads: The Program Status Study

The program status study was designed to examine the status of local programs for students with high abilities and the reasons to which educators and key personnel attributed the status of these programs. This descriptive ex post facto research, completed in a purposive sample of 19 states, was completed in two phases. Phase 1 included a mail survey to approximately 3,000 local teachers, coordinators, and/or principals who were responsible for programs for students with high abilities. Phase 2 included interviews with key personnel (state directors of gifted education, presidents of state advocacy organizations, school superintendents, chairpersons of local boards) and was designed to triangulate the findings from Phase 1. Results indicated that programs in states with mandates and in good economic health are intact and expanded; programs in all other groups of states (states with mandates and in poor economic health, states without mandates and in good economic health, states without mandates in poor economic health) are being threatened, reduced, and eliminated. More than half of the respondents from states with mandates and in good economic health attributed their expanded or intact status to the mandate and advocacy efforts. About half of the districts from states without mandates attributed their jeopardized status to a decline in state and local funds.

Board training policies and practices

This survey reveals some very interesting aspects about training of hospital boards of directors. When both CEOs and board chairpersons agree that making board training mandatory is necessary today, it is probably worthy of some serious board discussion.

CEO duality and organizational performance: A longitudinal analysis

AbstractAll public corporations must make a choice regarding board leadership structure. Advocates of more effective corporate governance argue for independent board leadership; yet many firms choose instead to allow the CEO to serve as board chairperson (CEO duality). This study examines the differential financial implications of these choices for 141 corporations over a 6‐year time period. Results indicate significant differences in performance between the two groups along a number of performance measures; more specifically, firms opting for independent leadership consistently outperformed those relying upon CEO duality.

Planning to Implement the Planning Process: Automation at the Clearinghouse for the Institute of Imaginary Filmmakers—A Preliminary Report

Whether to just go with the flow, or to develop a strategic plan that essentially achieves going with the flow—that is the question. It is undoubtedly preferable that a strategic plan be developed because the illusion of developing and implementing such a plan conveys the image of professionalism. And it is unquestionably more desireable, particularly for a library administrator, to be viewed as professional as opposed to the alternatives. The Institute of Imaginary Filmmakers executive board chairperson presents a case study that enumerates the planning process implemented at, and the advantages of planning that accrued to, the institute.

The Impact of CEO as Board Chairperson on Corporate Performance: Evidence vs. Rhetoric

The Impact of CEO as Board Chairperson on Corporate Performance: Evidence vs. Rhetoric

Insulation by administration: the neutralization of competing interests in a rent control program

Many attempted solutions to the rental housing shortage in urban areas have resulted either in deterioration of the housing stock or the abandonment of the proposed solutions with a consequent fundamental change in the nature of the community. The competing interests--landlords, tenants, banks, taxpayer groups, social reform groups--cannot afford to have any single interest dominate the program. The administrative processes of rent control programs become the focus of conflict between these irreconcilable forces. The rent control program in Brookline avoids much of the problem by a calculated policy to neutralize the competing interests. The history of the program which describes the development of this policy is divided into three parts: (1) 1970-73 when conflict between the groups all but destroyed the program and produced various adjustments in it; (2) 1972-75 when a definite policy of neutralization was followed by a new board chairperson and a new director-counsel; and (3) 1975-77 when the policy was...

Training task-group leaders

Abstract This article focuses on the content of training necessary to prepare task group leaders during the next two decades. Task-group leaders are defined as chairpersons of boards of directors, commissions, committees, or advisory councils; in short, they are the leaders of any group with particular tasks having benefits for more than just the task-group members themselves. The article first examines changes in U.S. society that will affect group leadership in the 1980s and 1990s, then describes the impact of these changes on the performance of essential group functions by these leaders.

Community mental health boards: a comparison of their development, functions, and powers by board members and mental health center staff.

Orientations toward citizens' board functioning in a community mental health setting were studied in an urban setting involving 18 community-based mental health centers. Four groups were interviewed: citizen board members, board chairpersons, center staff, and center directors. Groups generally agreed that the primary function of a board is to make certain that community needs are met. Board members and professionals differed in perceptions of reasons for joining boards and, more important, the degree of involvement board members should have. Board members saw their role as advisory, staff favored codecision or advisory, directors favored codecision, and charipersons wanted a stronger board role.