Board Experience Research Articles

Personalized Clinical Decision Making Through Implementation of a Molecular Tumor Board: A German Single-Center Experience.

PurposeDramatic advances in our understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of cancer, along with a rapidly expanding portfolio of molecular targeted drugs, have led to a paradigm shift toward personalized, biomarker-driven cancer treatment. Here, we report the 2-year experience of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg Molecular Tumor Board (MTB), one of the first interdisciplinary molecular tumor conferences established in Europe. The role of the MTB is to recommend personalized therapy for patients with cancer beyond standard-of-care treatment.MethodsThis retrospective case series includes 198 patients discussed from March 2015 through February 2017. The MTB guided individual molecular diagnostics, assessed evidence of actionability of molecular alterations, and provided therapy recommendations, including approved and off-label treatments as well as available matched clinical trials.ResultsThe majority of patients had metastatic solid tumors (73.7%), mostly progressive (77.3%) after a mean of 2.0 lines of standard treatment. Diagnostic recommendations resulted in 867 molecular diagnostic tests for 172 patients (five per case), including exome analysis in 36 cases (18.2%). With a median turnaround time of 28 days, treatment recommendations were given to 104 patients (52.5%). These included single-agent targeted therapies (42.3%), checkpoint inhibitors (37.5%), and combination therapies (18.3%). Treatment recommendations were implemented in 33 of 104 patients (31.7%), of whom 19 (57.6%) showed stable disease or partial response, including 14 patients (7.1% of the entire population) receiving off-label treatments.ConclusionPersonalized extended molecular-guided patient care is effective for a small but clinically meaningful proportion of patients in challenging clinical situations. Limited access to targeted drugs, lack of trials, and submission at late disease stage prevents broader applicability, whereas genome-wide analyses are not a strict requirement for predictive molecular testing.

Chairpersonship and Board Strategy Involvement in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

A critical issue when setting up a board of directors in small and medium-sized enterprises relates to the chairperson position. This study examines whether and how chairperson’s experience and leadership influence the extent to which the board of directors is involved in strategy. We rely on survey data from multiple respondents in 326 firms and use regression analysis to test our hypotheses. We find that chairpersons’ board experience and leadership efficacy have a positive and significant effect on boards’ involvement in strategy. Our findings provide ample support for the significance of chairperson behaviours in explaining board outcomes in firms.

Audit Partner Assignments and Audit Quality in the United States

ABSTRACT This paper examines the demand- and supply-side factors associated with audit partner selection and assignment in the United States. First, we examine whether audit partner gender and experience are associated with board and management gender and experience. Second, we investigate whether engagement audit quality varies with audit partner gender and experience, controlling for selection effects. The results indicate that companies with more gender-diverse boards of directors and top management teams are more likely to have a female lead audit partner. In addition, the experience of the client's board is positively associated with the experience of the lead audit partner. In terms of audit quality, we find that higher audit fees are positively associated with female and more experienced audit partners. Our results shed light on the important role that partner characteristics play in the demand and supply sides of audit quality.

Are Qualified and Experienced Outside Directors Willing to Join Fraudulent Firms and If So, Why?

ABSTRACTWe investigate whether qualified and experienced directors are willing to join firms following the revelation of financial fraud. Specifically, we focus on directors with prior board experience and accounting and legal experts. We find that, notwithstanding the tarnished reputation of fraudulent firms and a higher workload, qualified and experienced directors join the boards of such firms. Subsequent to joining fraudulent firms, directors are rewarded with additional future board seats and benefit from higher compensation. We rule out alternative explanations and verify the robustness of the results by performing a variety of tests, including propensity score matching and difference-in-differences analysis.JEL Classifications: G30; G34.

Learning from directors' foreign board experiences

We study the transfer of governance across countries through overlapping international boards. Companies converge to the governance characteristics and board practices of foreign firms through their directors' foreign board experiences. Learning from foreign firms' governance practices is as important as learning from connected domestic firms, and increases with the number of directors with foreign board appointments. This learning channel is stronger for firms domiciled in less-developed governance markets, suggesting a potential mechanism through which better governance practices are propagated. Our results are obtained in the time series and do not exist in placebo samples.

313 An innovative approach for fibromyalgia care in the community: the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board experience

313 An innovative approach for fibromyalgia care in the community: the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board experience

Embracing Action: Passing the Torch, Reviewing the Year.

Embracing Action: Passing the Torch, Reviewing the Year.

The impact of directors’ high-tech experience on innovation in low-tech firms

This study investigates whether, and if so, how, the presence of directors with experience in high-tech industries influences firm innovation in low-tech firms. Based on a sample of 1,095 listed U.S. firms with 10,327 directors for the period 2008–2012, our results suggest that the level of firm innovation in low-tech companies is positively related to directors’ experience stemming from simultaneously sitting on the board of a high-tech company. This relationship is accentuated for smaller, less financially leveraged, and faster growing firms. Our findings have implications for the literature on cross-sectoral board experience and innovation outcomes in low-tech firms and can inform practice, particularly with respect to the selection of board members.

The effects of board experience and independence on mitigating agency conflict

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of board experience and independence on mitigating agency conflict between shareholders and managers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a panel data of 137 firms listed on stock exchanges in Ghana and Nigeria over a period of seven years. System generalized method of moments and other estimation techniques were adopted for the study. Using agency and resource dependence theories, board experience and independence ignored in previous studies are selected for the study.FindingsThe findings of this paper indicate a negative and statistically significant relationship between board experience, board independence, and agency conflict. A further examination using an agency score computed from the principal factor analysis of the four main agency proxies indicates a significant and negative relationship between board independence and agency conflict, but a negative and statistically non-significant relation between board experience and agency conflict.Practical implicationsThe authors’ evidence has important implications for countries that are currently or contemplating pursuing board reforms to recommend the appointment of more independent and experience directors to corporate board.Originality/valueThis paper introduces a new proxy for assessing human and social capital of directors to test the integration hypothesis of a unique data set from Ghana and Nigeria toward mitigating agency conflict.

Psoriasis in solid organ transplant patients: best practice recommendations from The Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation

Background: Treatment of solid organ transplant patients who have psoriasis can be a therapeutic challenge. Biologic and systemic drugs used to treat psoriasis can result in an increase in infections or malignancies.Objective: We sought to develop a treatment algorithm for organ transplant recipients (OTR) diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris.Methods: A systematic literature search for psoriasis treatment in organ transplant patients was performed using MEDLINE and GOOGLE.Results: In mild-to-moderate disease, topical therapy should be a first-line treatment. In moderate-to-severe disease, first-line treatment is acitretin with narrow band ultraviolet light (NBUVB), NBUVB, or acitretin. Second-line treatment is increasing the current antirejection drug dose. Other systemic or biologic therapies should be reserved for more severe or refractory cases.Conclusion: No systematic clinical studies have been done to explore psoriasis treatments among affected solid organ transplant patients who have psoriasis, and only a few case reports are available. The algorithm for best practices was developed based on these reports and on the clinical experience and judgment of the Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation. There remains a need for further research on the management of psoriasis in the organ transplant patient population.

For director-at-large: Barbara A. Sawrey

For director-at-large: Barbara A. Sawrey

Governance Transfer Through Directorss Foreign Board Experiences

We study the transfer of governance across countries through overlapping boards. Companies converge to the governance characteristics and board practices of foreign firms through their directors’ foreign board experiences. Learning from foreign firms’ governance practices is as important as learning from connected domestic firms, and increases with the number of directors with foreign board appointments. This learning is stronger in firms domiciled in less-developed governance markets, suggesting a potential channel through which better governance practices are propagated. Our results are also obtained when we use an exogenous shock to board practices, are present in the time series, and don’t exist in in placebo samples.

A review of primary cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: A single health board experience, 2012-2015

A review of primary cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: A single health board experience, 2012-2015

Pre‐Market Entry Experience and Post‐Market Entry Learning of the Board of Directors: Implications for Post‐Entry Performance

Research summaryWe investigate how board directors’ expertise influences post‐entry performance of start‐ups and diversifying entrants in an emerging market. Empirical analysis based on firms in the U.S. wireless communications service industry from 1983 to 1998 reveals that post‐entry growth increases with directors’ post‐entry firm‐specific board experience, but decreases with directors’ inherited pre‐entry firm‐specific board experience. In addition, outside directors’ intra‐industry managerial experience stimulates post‐entry growth while intra‐industry directorial experience reduces it. We also find that firms benefit from having true industry outsiders who are experienced in other—not the focal—industries. Taking this evidence together, boards with a mix of directors with post‐entry firm‐specific board expertise and complementary other industry expertise are most suitable for the governance of post‐entry venture growth.Managerial summaryCareful board composition design can facilitate post‐entry performance of new entrants into an emerging industry. Specifically, entrants should retain some of the initial recruits to the board in order to steadily build firm‐specific board expertise. They should also introduce genuine industry outsiders (with no experience in the focal industry) to the board in order to inject fresh thinking into board governance, which is critical for renewal of the firm's growth strategy and market positioning over time. For diversifying entrants, if the new market entry is a strategic investment for the parent firm, it is worth setting up a separate board of directors where directors are not linked with the parent firm board, as a preexisting board is likely to be too deeply engaged with existing businesses. Copyright © 2017 Strategic Management Society.

CEO comes out of board evaluation meeting shaking her head

After having been with her organization for 10‐plus years, a Connecticut nonprofit executive endured the most frustrating board experience of her career. She explained her problem on the Board Issues Hotline (515.963.7972; jeff_stratton@msn.com).

Creating an effective and meaningful advisory board

Advisory boards can serve as helpful resources to a department, college, or university programme if a proper framework has been established, care is given to who is recruited on the board, responsibilities are spelled out, and the organisational leader takes this responsibility seriously. This paper shows that done well, service on an advisory board can lead to the board member having a closer connection with the institution, increased giving, and many other benefits. Conversely, this paper demonstrates, a poor board experience can result in the board member’s dissatisfaction with her experience seeking less interaction and giving less monetary support than before the board service began.

A Culture of Understanding: Reflections and Suggestions from a Genomics Research Community Board.

There has been limited community engagement in the burgeoning field of genomics research. In the wake of a new discovery of genetic variants that increase the risk of kidney failure and are almost unique to people of African ancestry, community and clinical leaders in Harlem, New York, formed a community board to inform the direction of related research. The board advised all aspects of a study to assess the impact of testing for these genetic variants at primary care sites that serve diverse populations, including explaining genetic risk to participants. By reflecting on the board's experiences, we found that community voices can have tangible impact on research that navigates the controversial intersection of race, ancestry, and genomics by heightening vigilance, fostering clear communication between researchers and the community, and encouraging researchers to cede some control. Our reflections and work provide a strong justification for longitudinal community partnerships in genomics research.

The Relationship Between Mock Boards and Clinical Board Examinations in Dental Hygiene Education

Research on the effectiveness of clinical mock boards for future oral health professionals is conflicting and limited. Despite this, U.S. dental hygiene programs rely on clinical mock board experiences as essential components for preparing students for their clinical board examinations. Differences in programs' mock board characteristics may relate to board exam outcomes. The validity and reliability of mock boards can be questioned when deviations from exam criteria and procedures are made and grading mechanisms are not consistent. The aim of this study was to determine which mock board characteristics were critical in preparing students by exploring the relationships between programs' dental hygiene, local anesthesia, and restorative mock boards and their 2013-14 candidates' performance on the corresponding three Western Regional Examining Board (WREB) licensure exams. Of the 23 U.S. dental hygiene education programs in four states invited to participate, 15 agreed to do so, and 13 consented to have WREB provide their programs' test result data. The mock board coordinators provided data on characteristics of their programs' mock boards with an online questionnaire distributed in 2014. Scores calculated from the responses were compared to performance of the programs' candidates on the corresponding WREB exam. Of the 45 questionnaires (on three exams each x 15 programs), 33 were completed (73.3%). Significant relationships were found between candidates' WREB exam results and the mock boards' intensity scores, remediation, multiple experiences, and examiner calibration scores. The results of this study provide fundamental information about mock board characteristics that may assist educators in facilitating experiences to more effectively prepare students for these high-stakes exams.

Education at the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico’s Indian Boarding Schools by John R. Gram

Reviewed by: Education at the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico’s Indian Boarding Schools by John R. Gram Rick Hendricks Education at the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico’s Indian Boarding Schools. By John R. Gram. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015. Pp. 256. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, photograph. index.) From the growing bibliography of scholarly studies of the Indian boarding school experience, the reader has come to expect a tragic story of cultural genocide and forced assimilation. Pueblo Indian students of Albuquerque Indian School (AIS) and Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) certainly experienced the trauma of military regimentation and uniforms, rigid restrictions on food consumption, long absences from kith and kin, and attempts to prevent their participation in traditional ceremonies. They did not, however, lose their names or languages as did most other students at Indian boarding schools around the country, and their culture is alive and well. This intimate portrait of AIS and SFIS was only possible because the author consulted previously ignored archival material, especially the papers of former superintendent John David DeHuff and records from the two schools. His use of oral history interviews by Sally Hyer, which informed her book, One House, One Voice, One Heart (Museum of New Mexico Press, 1990), provides invaluable insight into the student experience at SFIS. The founders of AIS (in 1881) and SFIS (in 1890) and their superintendents through the years typically held the values of East Coast Protestants. When they found themselves in the midst of a predominately Hispano and Roman Catholic population and in close proximity to the Pueblo villages that were to provide most of the schools’ students, they had to compromise and compete to survive. This situation presented challenges not encountered in most places where Indian boarding schools were located. Moreover, public education, to the rather limited extent it existed at the time, was largely under the Catholic Church’s control. The very existence of the schools depended on having as many students as possible, and it fell to the school superintendents to negotiate with Pueblo leaders to deliver students for each term. These negotiations took place in the context of competition between AIS and SFIS, with other Indian boarding schools around the country, and with the Catholic Church in New Mexico. AIS and SFIS were not in a position to dictate terms. To ensure that Pueblo communities would supply students, superintendents acquiesced to demands from village leaders for the students to spend summers at their home pueblos and permit frequent visits by family members, practices that Indian boarding schools usually frowned upon. These and other concessions gave the Pueblos the opportunity to influence the direction of the schools. As the author notes, “the Albuquerque [End Page 524] and Santa Fe Indian School were not merely something that happened to the Pueblos, but also something that they profoundly shaped” (21). Although most of the students at AIS and SFIS over time were Pueblo, there were students from other Indian groups. One unintended consequence, as the author and other scholars have noted, was the emergence of pan-Indian awareness and identity, as the local students interacted with students from other tribal areas. The schools also provided Pueblo students something more. “For some Pueblo students who attended AIS or SFIS, the boarding schools served as gateways to new careers, new friendships, new romances, new ideas, and a new perspective on themselves and the world” (174). The AIS campus, which the All Indian Pueblo Council had operated since 1977, was closed permanently in 1989. The students, staff, and equipment were relocated to SFIS, which the council continues to operate. This book offers a fascinating and unexpected view of the Indian boarding experience. It is a welcome addition to Native American historiography and should be of interest to anyone who values a deeper understanding of the way in which Pueblo people in New Mexico were able to make an institution dedicated to destroying their way of life work instead for them. Rick Hendricks State Historian of New Mexico Copyright © 2017 The Texas State Historical Association

Jacqueline Baxter talks to Gill Howland, newly appointed Chair of BELMAS

Gill is currently Chair of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society. Her personal experiences are central to her belief that education is the key to unlocking potential, both for individuals and for society as a whole. Throughout her career she has championed the right to good quality, inspirational education for all. She has always chosen to work in areas of multiple disadvantage and has a track record in working with schools, colleges and universities to improve leadership, learning and achievement. She has extensive experience in strategic leadership across the compulsory education sector as well as in further and higher education. Her leadership roles have included Local Authority Chief Education Adviser, Executive Director in two West Midlands Learning and Skills Councils and Executive Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) in a large modern university. She has directed and engaged in various research projects, mainly in the area of 14-19 education and was a member of the (Labour) Government’s 14-19 External Advisory group. As a strong supporter of educational collaboration she has led a number of Local Authority wide collaborative developments. With extensive board experience her roles have included: Deputy Chair of CILT, the National Centre for Languages; Chair of the YMCA’s national training organisation and board member of YMCA North Staffordshire.