This study examines an important potential conflict between the institutional, governance, and strategic functions of boards. We specifically test how higher levels of board size and diversity, traditionally associated with optimal institutional and governance performance of boards, affect the boards ability to initiate strategic changes during periods of environmental turbulence. Our findings suggest that board diversity, in particular, may be a significant constraint on strategic change.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2486969.pdf

The effects of board size and diversity on strategic change

This study refined and extended some previous research on strategic decision making speed. Decision speed was associated with simultaneous consideration of multiple alternatives, regardless of environmental context. In contrast, the relationship between board experience and decision speed was context specific. Similarly, decision speed was associated with firm performance in high velocity environments.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Decision Speed in Different Environmental Contexts

This study tested whether leadership instability--a systemic pattern of frequent succession in the top management position of an organization--was associated with sociopolitical structures that define the relationship between the board and chief executive officer (CEO), controlling for temporal patterns of the organizational life-cycle stage. In organizations that are not profit maximizing and subject to considerable uncertainty, such governance properties were hypothesized to affect leadership instability independent of organizational growth or decline. Results of regression analyses demonstrate strong main effects of board-CEO relations, net of the impact of organizational life cycle, on leadership instability.

Leadership instability in hospitals: the influence of Board-CEO relations and organizational growth and decline.

As performance accountabilities, external oversight, and market competition among not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals have grown, governing boards have been given a more central leadership role. This article examines these boards' effectiveness, particularly how their configuration influenced a range of performance outcomes in NFP community hospitals. Results indicate that hospitals governed by boards using a corporate governance model, versus hospitals governed by philanthropic-style boards, were likely to be more efficient and have more admissions and a larger share of the local market. Occupancy and cash flow were generally unrelated to hospitals' governing board configuration. However, effects of governance configuration were more pronounced in freestanding and public NFP hospitals compared with system-affiliated and private NFP hospitals, respectively.

/pdf/does-governance-matter-board-configuration-and-performance-5bo4x49wid.pdf

Does governance matter? Board configuration and performance in not-for-profit hospitals.

As in many countries today, health services across Canada are being restructured. Most jurisdictions within Canada are also restructuring and experimenting with the governance function of health‐delivery organizations. However, much of this governance reorganization is being done in a vacuum. New governance models have appeared lately that defy the first principles of good corporate governance. Identifies and examines the nine principles of good organizational governance as well as the five benchmarks of excellence in governance. An example of a governance “monster” – one of the latest experiments in corporate leadership in Canadian health care – is also critiqued. Presents conclusions, lessons and warnings which all health‐services managers – indeed, all public sector managers – should heed.

Facts, myths and monsters: understanding the principles of good governance

This study compares selected characteristics of community hospital governing boards with those of high technology industries acknowledged for successful transitions in a rapidly changing competitive environment. Sponsored by the Estes Park Institute, the purpose of this investigation was to identify emerging governance issues and to propose a normative model for nonprofit community health care systems. Results suggest that for health care systems to succeed in a rapidly changing competitive environment, strategic alterations in top-level governance structures will be necessary to focus on market-driven policy issues, with accompanying changes toward smaller boards composed of expert directors. Trends and implications for board terms, committee structures, and relationships between the board and chief executive officers are also discussed.

Delbecq Al

Papers

Developing strategic direction for governing boards.