Managing gender diversity and board dynamics: The role of male chairpersons of large listed firms

To better understand the links between gender diversity and board dynamics, 45 male chairs of large Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) firms were interviewed to identify the impacts of the appointment of women on board functioning. Chairs held very positive perceptions about the influence of women board members, including improved dynamics around reflexivity, communication and debate which assisted chairs to promote a sense of shared group membership and cohesion. Every chair consciously worked to ensure that board member gender was not made a salient attribute or social category. Irrespective of gender, chairs encouraged board members to judge themselves as fulfilling specific components of the board skills matrix, while also identifying as a social category of highly qualified professionals rather than as unique individuals or factions categorised by gender difference or business track records. A preliminary social-psychological framework is proposed to guide future research and to promote improved boardroom practices. JEL classification: D23, D74, G41

Disrupting board appointments: Australia's governance guidelines and gender capital

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify how board recruitment processes have been impacted by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) governance changes requiring listed boards to report annually on their gender diversity policy and profile.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a social constructivist approach, the research analyses interviews conducted with matched samples of board directors and stakeholders in 2010 and 2017 about board recruitment in ASX50 companies.FindingsThe introduction of ASX guidelines requiring gender reporting disrupted traditional board appointment processes. Women's gender capital gained currency, adding an additional dimension to the high levels of human and social capital seen as desirable for board appointments. The politics of women's presence is bringing about changes to the discourse and practice about who should/can be a director. The authors identify highly strategic ways in which women's gender capital has been used to agitate for more women to be appointed to boards.Research limitations/implicationsWhile sample sizes are small, data within the themes cohered meaningfully across the time periods, making visible how women's presence in the board room has been reframed. Future research could consider what this may mean for board dynamics and how enduring are these changes.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the forms that human and social capital take in board appointments, which can be instructive for potential directors, and how these intersect with gender capital. The insights from the study are relevant to board recruitment committees seeking to reflect their commitment to a more gender equitable environment.Originality/valueThere has been a recalibration of men's and women's gender capital in board appointments, and there is now a currency in femaleness disrupting the historical privilege afforded “maleness”.

Information governance: The role of information architecture for effective board performance

Among the growing demands in corporate governance is better decision-making. The best board dynamics and focus on substantive business issues do not ensure effective boards functioning. Better decision-making implies the availability of quality information in adequate amounts. Better information does not exist on its own, it is necessary to design adequate information architectures in order to gather such information for effective board decision-making. Relying on solid information sources fosters awareness and lies the grounds for a better information architecture, so directors can do their job in a more effective and efficient way. What, why, how and where questions shall be raised in order to reach such goals, and the pillars for such architecture shall be laid down, by means of an adequate information architecture. This text provides clarity and the main thinking behind such information architecture design, ending with a set of recommendations

Fraud Governance Case

The Imtech case is about a Dutch listed company that tried a restart and failed at that restart.A couple of spinning questions are in the case among which.• Why did the supervisory board and the management board dynamics prevent from taking appropriate actions?• Why did the decentral local entrepreneurial model fail and to what extend were missing Corp governance systems to blame?• What should the supervisory board have done to mitigate their company and personal risks?