Older boards are better boards, so beware of diversity targets

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Prior Jonson ◽  
Linda McGuire ◽  
Sharif Rasel ◽  
Brian Cooper

AbstractThis study examined 130 Australian companies from the ASX 500 All Ordinaries between 2011 and 2015. We performed regression analysis on the effects of age of the board (mean age and age diversity) upon financial performance (measured by ROA and Tobin's Q). Controlling for board size, firm size and industry sector, we found that the average age of board members is positively associated with firm performance as measured by ROA. Boards with an older average age of directors perform better than boards with a younger average age. There was no significant relationship between age diversity as measured by the within-board standard deviation on the two performance measures. The primary focus of our study was age. However, an interesting concomitant finding is that the focus on increasing female representation on boards will lower the average age of a board (as female directors tend to be significantly younger than their male counterparts) and this may have an adverse impact on financial performance.

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D Chinoy ◽  
Joseph A Cuellar ◽  
Kirbie E Huwa ◽  
Jason T Jameson ◽  
Catherine H Watson ◽  
...  

Abstract Study Objectives Consumer sleep-tracking devices are widely used and becoming more technologically advanced, creating strong interest from researchers and clinicians for their possible use as alternatives to standard actigraphy. We therefore tested the performance of many of the latest consumer sleep-tracking devices, alongside actigraphy, versus the gold-standard sleep assessment technique, polysomnography (PSG). Methods In total, 34 healthy young adults (22 women; 28.1 ± 3.9 years, mean ± SD) were tested on three consecutive nights (including a disrupted sleep condition) in a sleep laboratory with PSG, along with actigraphy (Philips Respironics Actiwatch 2) and a subset of consumer sleep-tracking devices. Altogether, four wearable (Fatigue Science Readiband, Fitbit Alta HR, Garmin Fenix 5S, Garmin Vivosmart 3) and three non-wearable (EarlySense Live, ResMed S+, SleepScore Max) devices were tested. Sleep/wake summary and epoch-by-epoch agreement measures were compared with PSG. Results Most devices (Fatigue Science Readiband, Fitbit Alta HR, EarlySense Live, ResMed S+, SleepScore Max) performed as well as or better than actigraphy on sleep/wake performance measures, while the Garmin devices performed worse. Overall, epoch-by-epoch sensitivity was high (all ≥0.93), specificity was low-to-medium (0.18-0.54), sleep stage comparisons were mixed, and devices tended to perform worse on nights with poorer/disrupted sleep. Conclusions Consumer sleep-tracking devices exhibited high performance in detecting sleep, and most performed equivalent to (or better than) actigraphy in detecting wake. Device sleep stage assessments were inconsistent. Findings indicate that many newer sleep-tracking devices demonstrate promising performance for tracking sleep and wake. Devices should be tested in different populations and settings to further examine their wider validity and utility.


Author(s):  
Emilyn Cabanda ◽  
Eleanor C. Domingo

Banking institutions, nowadays, serve as intermediaries of funds to a variety of clients, including the micro enterprisers. This study analyzes and measures the performance of rural and thrift banks with microfinance operations in the Philippines, using combined measures of data envelopment analysis and traditional financial performance indicators. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is employed to measure the productive efficiency of these banks under the production approach. The variable returns to scale is also used, with the assumption that not all banks are operating at optimal scale over the long-run period. DEA findings reveal that sample banks performed below the production frontier. The average technical efficiency score of these banks is 66.09% and additional 33.91% is needed to reach the production frontier. Overall, thrift banks are found to be more productively efficient than rural banks as depository banks. The authors have also found a strong relationship between financial performance measures and bank's productive efficiency. For thrift banks, sustainability, ROE and ROA measures showed a statistically significant positive correlation to the banks' productive efficiency while a negative relationship was observed in rural banks. Lastly, the authors can suggest that both DEA's productive efficiency and financial performance measures are consistently and strongly correlated when evaluating the overall performance of banks with microfinance operations.


Author(s):  
Langa Esmael KAREM ◽  
Hawkar Anwer HAMAD ◽  
Hakar Abubakir BAYZ ◽  
Naji Afrasyaw FATAH ◽  
Diary Jalal ALI ◽  
...  

Having a board of directors is very important to ensure the smooth running of business processes and have an impact on the company's financial performance. This study to determine the impact of board characteristics namely board size, board ownership and board composition on the financial performance of organizations as measured by Return on Assets. The study employed a descriptive-explanatory research design based on a cross-sectional approach. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to determine the depth and extent of the relationship between the variables. The study revealed a positive and significant association between the board size and financial performance on an average of 9 board members. Board composition revealed that having more external directors had no effect on the financial performance, it neither increased it nor decreased it, leading to the rejection of the hypothesis. On the other hand, board ownership was found to be beneficial in terms of having directors as owners of the business, corroborating the Stakeholder Theory. The studies showed that there was still a need to select board members with caution striking a balance between the number of directors as well as their composition to ensure that the organization reaps maximum benefits from the board.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-97
Author(s):  
Nurdan Değirmenci ◽  
Tuba Yakici Ayan

The objective of this article is to rank firms by their financial performance using statistical I-distance method, which has the ability to determine both ranking and important factors. For this purpose, the method was first applied to 110 Turkish industrial firms without any sectorial separation and then to 7 different sectors, and various findings about firms, sectors and variables were obtained. The I-distance method is used to get rid of the high correlation between variables during the analysis. The reason for choosing the I-distance method is that it allows you to sort the variables by importance and eliminate insignificant variables, as well as take into account correlations between variables. The authors believe that the method is superior to other alternative methods thanks to these qualities. Through a number of analyses, it was possible to see positions of firms both within the whole sample and their own sectors. Furthermore, this method provided valuable information on which factors were important in assessing firms’ financial performance. It has been observed in the analyses that the most effective factors in ranking firms and separating them from each other were profitability ratios, and the fact that liquidity and financial leverage ratios are not effective at all. When examined from a sectoral perspective, the nonmetal mining sector and the chemical, petroleum and plastic sectors seem to be better than other sectors in the performance rankings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Zia ur Rehman ◽  
Asad Khan ◽  
Rafique Ahmed Khuhro ◽  
Abdul Ghafoor Khan

The objective of the study is to measure product diversification’s impact on insurance firm’s financial performance in Pakistan. Analysis are carried out to examine how ownership structure, capitalization, group membership, firm size, diversification across business lines, industry concentration affects firm’s financial performance. Data from 2009-2019 is collected to measure the impact of diversification (entropy) on the risk- adjusted returns. Findings of the study reveal that business line diversification has strong positive effect on firm performance (for both ROA and ROE) which means that diversified firms perform better than non-diversified firms. For managers these findings are useful as they propose the need for diversification, capitalization, increase in size and group affiliation to enhance firm profitability.


The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of digital bank deposit, asset and loan growth on selected traditional bank performance measures. In order to estimate whether a causal relationship between digital bank measures and traditional bank performance exists, Granger causality method is selected as the main empirical model. In addition, to determine the direction and strength of said relationship, OLS regressions are performed. Research results lead to the conclusion that digital bank deposit and loan growth have a causal relationship to traditional bank performance ratios. Deposit growth has a negative impact on traditional bank performance ratios and loan growth shows both positive and negative impact on different ratios. This research demonstrates some of the challenges that traditional banks are facing in the age of innovation.


Growth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Gbarato, Ledum Moses

The presence of appropriate gender diversity, board size and board composition does not only promote favourable organizational ambience but also offers meaningful upsurge in the financial position of an organization relatively. It is on this premise that prompted the essence to examine the relationship between corporate board diversity and financial performance of insurance companies in Nigeria for the period 2014 to 2018. Secondary data from Cornerstone Insurance Plc. and Lasaco Assurance Plc. were employed in the study. Using the Panel least Square regression technique, the results reveal that gender diversity, board size and board composition exert insignificant influence on profit before tax as the measure of financial performance. However, while gender diversity exerts negative influence, board size and board composition exert positive influences on profit before tax of insurance companies. The study concludes that employment of appropriate number of directors and also in suitable composition as board members have positive effect on the financial performance of insurance firms. Therefore, the study recommended among others, that: appropriate ratio of executive to independent non-executive directors should be maintained among board members for better decision-making at the interest of all stakeholders. Also, the ratio of gender diversity (female to male directors) should be increased as the role of women in resource management cannot be relegated to the background especially in financial performance of insurance companies.


Author(s):  
Therese A. Joiner ◽  
X. Sarah Yang Spencer ◽  
Suzanne Salmon

PurposeAgainst a background of a customization imperative embraced by manufacturing firms in industrialised nations and the concomitant call for more balanced performance measurement systems (PMS), this study seeks to examine the mediating role of both non‐financial and financial performance measures in the relationship between a firm's strategic orientation of flexible manufacturing and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approachA path‐analytical model is adopted using questionnaire data from 84 Australian manufacturing firms.FindingsThe results indicate that, first, firms emphasising a flexible manufacturing strategy utilise non‐financial as well as financial performance measures; second, these performance measures are associated with higher organisational performance; and third, there is a positive association between a firm's strategic emphasis on flexible manufacturing and organisation performance via non‐financial and financial performance measures.Practical implicationsWhile there is agreement on the beneficial role of non‐financial performance measures in supporting strategic priorities associated with customization strategies, equivocal research results have emerged on the role of financial performance measures in this context. The study underscores the importance of both non‐financial and financial performance measures in this context.Originality/valueThe paper reinstates the value of financial performance measures for firms pursuing customization type strategies and adds to one's knowledge of PMSs by exploring the intervening role of such systems in linking flexible manufacturing strategy to organisation performance.


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