Working Paper 04/2009 now available

The new Working Paper addresses existing calls to open the “black box” of board behaviour by drawing upon governance and group effectiveness theories. Based on a survey of 234 Norwegian firms, we find that the positive effects of women directors on board effectiveness were mediated through board development activities. However, women directors had no influence on open debate and conflict in the boardroom. Open debate was positively and conflict negatively related to operational control, and open debate had a positive effect on board strategic control. This study’s findings support the notion that board processes are more important to board effectiveness than board demography.

The author, Sabina Nielsen, is a Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of International Economics and Management, CBS. She received her Ph.D. from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and her dissertation won the European International Business Academy (EIBA) best dissertation proposal award in 2003 and was nominated for the Barry Richman best dissertation award at the Academy of Management (AOM) in Philadelphia, USA and the Gunnar Hedlund best dissertation award at the EIBA in Catania, Italy in 2007. Her research in the area of corporate governance and top management teams has been published in international scholarly journals and in best paper proceedings of the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business. Her research interests include the composition, dynamics and decision-making of top management teams and boards of directors.