Women directors and firm innovation: The role of women directors' representative function

Why women make better directors

The positive correlation between the presence of female directors on boards and corporate performance suggests that women appear to make better directors than men. But why? Using the Defined Issues Test (DIT) instrument (Rest, 1979, 1986), 624 board directors (75% male; 25% female) were surveyed to determine their reliance on three reasoning methods (i.e., ‘Personal Interest’, ‘Normative’ and ‘...

Modeling the Executive Coaching Role of Directors

In recent years, many leading companies have found that managers and supervisors play a vital role in promoting human resource goals and programs, and have been entrusted with the development and training of employees to their executives. Today, one of the roles assigned to managers to implement this responsibility, is coaching. Therefore, modeling the executive coaching role of directors in Ir...

The Role of Nonaffiliated outside Directors in Monitoring the Firm and the Effect on Shareholder Wealth

The paper addresses the issue of the importance of independent, outside directors in monitoring the affairs of the firm. There is much debate about whether nonaffiliated directors are more supportive of the shareholderinterest hypothesis or the management entrenchment hypothesis. In this study of 1,026 announcements of the appointment of independent outside directors between 1990-1994, the auth...

Corporate Governance , Board of Directors , and Firm Performance

Outside Directors and Firm Performance during Institutional Transitions

Do outside directors on corporate boards make a difference in firm performance during institutional transitions? What leads to the practice of appointing outside directors in the absence of legal mandate? This article addresses these two important questions by drawing not only on agency theory, but also resource dependence and institutional theories. Taking advantage of China’s institutional tr...