The Board-of-Directors as Strategic Alliances or Joint Ventures: A Critique and Some Risk Implications of Board-Governance Models in Various Countries, and the British/Commonwealth Corporations-Model

Author(s):  
Michael C. I. Nwogugu
2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2, Special issue) ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Brogi

Drawing on Agency Theory this article investigates the relationship between board size and European firms’ performance. The focus is on the implicit differences between financial and non-financial firms. In particular the paper addresses the following questions: does board size influence firm performance? Is financial intermediaries’ corporate governance different from that of non-financial companies? The study analyses the governance of the largest listed European companies which make up the Eurotop 100 index. Companies come from 12 different countries and are subject to different regulatory and self-discipline codes. Referring to the Eurotop index the focus is on the relation between the overall size of the board of directors and the level of performance measured as Tobin’s Q and Return on Assets. Diverging results emerge depending on the typology of the firm. In particular, results suggest that for non-financial companies large boards negatively influence firm performance, whereas financial intermediaries seem to be different because of the non-relation between their board size and performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Argente-Linares ◽  
M. V. López-Pérez ◽  
L. Rodríguez-Ariza

Businesses commonly access new markets through joint ventures, and these partnerships may adopt diverse structures of government, among which the Board of Directors often plays a key role. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to observe which characteristics of the Board most affect the success of joint ventures between Spanish and Moroccan SMEs, operating in Morocco. Using a structured questionnaire, we analyse the characteristics of the Board that affect success, as measured by the partners’ satisfaction with the performance achieved. The results show that factors influencing overall partners’ satisfaction with the joint venture include the existence of external directors, the existence of directors with a significant level of ownership in the partnership, the existence of an audit committee, and the (low) frequency of Board meetings. All these measures can be said to be indicators of the type of control held over the partnership, as a means of ensuring the partners’ goals are achieved.


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