A relationship between mission and organizational performance was modeled by drawing on previous research. The model was tested with data from 83 large Canadian and US organizations. We found that mission statements can affect financial performance, however, not as one might have anticipated initially. Several mediating elements were observed to exist. For instance, “commitment to the mission” and the “degree to which an organization aligns its internal structure, policies and procedures with its mission” were both found to be positively associated with “employee behavior”. It was this latter variable which was observed, in turn, to have the most direct relationship with financial performance.

Scholars endorsing the embeddedness outlook call for directors' greater engagement in the strategic management process. In contrast, scholars endorsing the control outlook argue that directors should focus on fulfilling their fiduciary duty of supervising top executives. Based on the behavioral-agency theory, this paper outlines a conduct outlook on boards. Recognizing the benefits of directors' participation in the strategic management process, we hypothesize that it may boost directors' satisfaction with firm's performance, strategic planning, and strategy. This could lead to cognitive entrenchment and spur inertial tendencies. Structural equations modeling analysis of the data from a survey of 367 Canadian directors supports the hypotheses. These findings add knowledge to latest research on the advantages vs. disadvantages of activist boards.

In this study, we examine two key issues situated at the intersection of corporate governance and corporate political activity literature. The first is whether the presence of ex-politicians or former government officials on a corporate board provides a competitive advantage for the firm. A second, related question is whether the presence of these outside directors on the board of directors is perceived as desirable by their fellow directors. While some have characterized the study of board processes as a black box (Leblanc, 2003; Pugliese et al., 2009) due to the difficulty in acquiring data, we circumvented this challenge by directly surveying 82 Canadian board members, then delved deeper with ten directors using supplemental qualitative interviews. The results were examined via the lens of strategic positioning theory in contrast to the well-worn use of agency and resource dependency theories in the literature. Our findings suggest that heterogeneous benefits may accrue depending upon the industry involved, and the political experience of the director(s) in question. However, a majority of current directors expressed significant reservations concerning the appointment of a political director. These findings, combined with the understudied Canadian context and the use of qualitative research methods, contribute to the extant literature.

This article examines how the impact of Information technology (IT) governance by the board of directors on firms' financial performance can be mediated through IT operating capabilities, and how such board IT governance (B-ITG) can modulate the influence of IT operating capability on financial performance. Findings based on a survey of 89 corporate directors indicate that both B-ITG and IT operating capability increase financial performance. They further point to complex B-ITG effects on financial performance, including complementarity with and shaping IT operating capability. They show that high B-ITG suppresses the effect of IT operating capability on financial performance and that B-ITG effects on financial performance are partially mediated through IT operating capability.

We theorize that IT governance (ITG) by the board of directors is most effective when there is a fit between the dynamics of the business environment and the governance style through which board ITG is delivered. Survey findings from 110 board members largely supported these assertions. Findings show that authoritative governance style and environmental dynamism represent important boundary conditions for the efficacy of board ITG to achieve performance gains. Research and practical implications are discussed.

This paper suggests that boards' involvement with information technology (IT) governance is often not at the needed level. It illuminates the differences between board-level and executive-level IT governance, explains why both the board and executives should be motivated to engage in IT governance, and provides board-level IT governance structure, action, and style suggestions. Building on a categorization of different board governance styles, this paper also offers practical recommendations, including IT related areas and questions the board should focus on, as well as a set of tools to choose and switch between governance styles.

We report on two empirical studies that explore key factors that help translate information technology governance by the board of directors into organizational performance. The first study shows that strategic alignment partially mediates the effect of board-level information technology governance on performance. The second study demonstrates that authoritarian governance style negatively moderates the effect of board-level information technology governance on performance. Together, these studies open up the black box between board-level information technology governance and organizational performance.

Although corporate governance researchers have devoted considerable attention to the role of boards of directors in monitoring management and providing resources, less attention has been paid to whether and how they affect the strategic actions of firms in response to changing environments. Taking a process-based perspective, we examine how several prevalent board processes (i.e., board meetings, outside-board-meeting reviews and information utilization) affect the involvement of boards in strategic decision-making and how such involvement shapes organizational performance. Moreover, we offer an initial attempt to compare the strategic role of boards in for-profit and non-profit organizations. An investigation of 217 for-profit and 156 non-profit organizations in Canada indicates that different processes lead boards to different levels of strategic involvement, and that such effects are contingent on the types of organizations concerned. Moreover, boards that are active in strategic decision-making enhance the performance of their organizations. Our findings have implications for board research and practice.

This study examines the contribution of assisted reflection in identifying positive boardroom behaviour in order to promote corporate governance reform from within the firm. A quasi-experimental research design involving nine cohorts of a director education program each partook in six simulated board meetings. With the aid of facilitators and the use of reflective learning exercises, participants' observations coalesced around eight shared behaviours they believe contributed toward improved boardroom performance. The commonality of these behaviours across multiple cohorts suggest that the use of assisted reflective learning can contribute to shared positive behaviours in the boardroom, leading to enhanced boardroom performance, and in so doing, helping to address the governance deficit created by the use of externally-situated mechanisms such as checklists, prescribed guidelines and best practices.

Purpose– This study aims to explore the relationship between mission statements and organisational performance in non-profit organisations. It also examines the role of organisational commitment in moderating that relationship.Design/methodology/approach– Invitations were sent to a network of non-profit organisations inviting them to complete an online survey. Usable responses were obtained from 117 respondents from 30 countries. Hierarchical regression was used to test the hypotheses.Findings– The findings suggest that mission statements have a significant positive relationship with organisational performance. Also, organisational commitment, particularly affective commitment, moderates the relationship between mission statements and organisational performance.Research limitations/implications– The results confirm that the relationship between mission statements and organisational performance is complex. The study of intervening variables is a worthwhile program of research.Practical implications– The findings suggest that non-profit organisations can improve performance by communicating their mission and building emotional commitment to their cause.Originality/value– This is one of the first studies to examine the role of organisational commitment in influencing the relationship between mission statements and performance. This study contributes to our understanding of the impact of mission statements on performance in non-profit organisations.

Research on the strategic management of Information Technology (IT) resources has mostly focused on the oversight provided by the management team as a means to increase organizational performance. In recent years, boards of directors have also increased their involvement in IT matters, and various theoretical lenses suggest that this oversight too has the potential to influence organizational performance. Hence, this study synthesizes the resource-based and contingency views of MIS with corporate governance theories, and examines key antecedents and consequences of board-level IT governance (ITG) using a multi-method approach. Structural Equation Modelling analysis applied to organization-level data collected from 171 board members suggested that the level of ITG exercised by boards was contingent upon the organization's 'IT use mode', along the two dimensions of need for (a) fast and reliable IT, and (b) new innovative IT. But, the findings further suggested that the contingency approach may be suboptimal because it can cause new ways of leveraging IT to be ignored. High levels of board-level ITG, regardless of existing IT needs, increased organizational performance. This phenomenon was illuminated with applicability checks. Moreover, content analysis and structured interviews with board members further enriched these insights.

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 'Complex Moral Reasoning' or 'CMR') to make decisions. The results showed that female directors achieved significantly higher scores than their male counterparts on the CMR dimension which essentially involves making consistently fair decisions when competing interests are at stake. Since directors are compelled to make decisions in the best interest of their corporation while taking the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders into account, having a significant portion of female directors with highly developed CMR skills on board would appear to be an important resource for making these types of decisions and making them more effectively.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the governance questions that board members in public service organizations ask as they go about fulfilling their responsibilities for the oversight of executive compensation. The research uses 24 of the questions – as proposed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants - that directors should ask about executive compensation and investigates both their usage and perceived importance by board members. The study is based on a usable sample of 47 board members from public service organizations who were attending a Canadian director training program. The research finds that, insofar as public service organizations are concerned, not all of the recommended executive compensation governance questions were asked with the same frequency nor were they considered equally important. Additionally, the relationship between a question’s usage frequency and its perceived importance was not perfect. However, there appears to be a significantly positive relationship among the number of executive compensation governance questions asked and selected elements of a board’s governance structure.

This paper presents the results of a content analysis of Audit Committee (AC) charters for the 60 largest publicly traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange as measured by market capitalisation (S&P/;TSX 60) as at February 28, 2008. The research found that not all AC activities (as defined by regulation and 'best practice') were included in the committees' charters. As a result, it appears that not all AC charter components are considered equal. The findings also vary by industry classification. The paper speculates on the possible reasons for these results and proposes additional avenues for research.

ABSTRACT: In modern organizations, information technologies (IT) often help drive organizational strategies. As such, IT require both judicious planning and oversight. While executive oversight over IT is quite common nowadays, several studies indicate that due to the many benefits and risks associated with IT, more/better board-level oversight may be in order. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of research on the involvement of board members in IT governance. We attempt to partially fill this gap by empirically examining the degree to which the 27 IT governance questions that make up an IT board governance framework recommended by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are raised by the board members of 94 Canadian firms. We also investigate the extent to which the questions are considered important. Our findings show that: board members use only some of the IT governance questions and not all the recommended ones; there is a gap between the IT governance questions board members ask and the ones they perceive to be important; and the number and importance of IT governance questions that board members ask appear to vary with both their organization’s strategic use of IT and the need for IT reliability. Implications for research and practice are offered.

This study examines the extent to which board of directors are providing ‘governance oversight’ of their organization’s IT activities and whether their efforts are making any difference in terms of organizational performance. Building on contingency theory we theorize that the magnitude of IT oversight exercised by boards depends on an organization‘s particular IT situation and especially its need for (1) fast and reliable IT, and (2) new innovative IT. However, we also posit that the contingency approach may be suboptimal because it focuses only on current IT needs, and may ignore other potential competitive and defensive uses of IT. These future-looking considerations are in line with the resource-based view of the firm according to which IT is a key resource which, when utilized efficiently and effectively, can create a competitive advantage. Accordingly, we hypothesize that the magnitude of board-level IT oversight positively affects firm performance regardless of existing IT needs, Using structural equation modelling analysis applied to data collected from a sample of 146 directors, representing 146 Canadian firms we found support for all our hypotheses. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the questions that boards of directors ask as they go about fulfilling their governance responsibilities regarding their organisation's IT operations. The research uses the 27 IT governance questions proposed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and investigates their deployment and perceived importance by directors representing 107 Canadian boards. The research finds that not all IT governance questions are considered equal. Moreover, the relationship between the frequency with which the various questions are asked and their perceived importance is not perfect. However, there appears to be a significantly positive relationship between the number of IT questions asked and the authors' measures of firm performance. The paper speculates on the possible reasons for these findings and proposes additional avenues for research.

This paper presents the results of a survey of Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) documents from 32 publicly listed U.S. companies. Our aim was to probe the extent to which companies are providing investors, through the CD&A, with an easy to understand and complete assessment of the compensation provided to their highest paid executives. Using a detailed content analysis, the results show that while companies are complying somewhat with regulatory requirements, they are failing to meet the intent of the CD&A, which is, to provide completeness, transparency and understanding regarding a firm’s executive compensation. A number of recommendations for change is also proposed.