Board functions in governance arenas: a comparative case study of four Swedish family firms

IF 3.6 Q2 MANAGEMENT
Jenny Ahlberg, Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin, Elin Smith, Timur Uman
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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore board functions and their location in family firms. Design/methodology/approach Through structured induction in a four-case study of medium-sized Swedish family firms, the authors demonstrate that board functions can be located in other arenas than in the common board and suggest propositions that explain their distribution. Findings (1) The board is but one of several arenas where board functions are performed. (2) The functions performed by the board vary in type and emphasis. (3) The non-family directors in a family firm serve the owners, even sometimes governing them, in what the authors term “bidirectional governance”. (4) The kin strategy of the family influences their governance. (5) The utilization of a board for governance stems from the family (together with its constitution, kin strategy and governance strategy), the board composition and the business conditions of the firm. Research limitations/implications Being a case study the findings are restricted to concepts and theoretical propositions. Using structured induction, the study is not solely inductive but still contains the subjectivity of induction. Practical implications Governance agents should have an instrumental view on the board, considering it one possible governance arena among others, thereby economizing on governance. Social implications The institutional pressure toward active boards could paradoxically reduce the importance of the board in family firms. Originality/value The board of a family company differs in its emphasis of board functions and these functions are performed with varying emphases in different governance arenas. The authors propose the concept of kin strategy, which refers to the governance importance of the structure of the owner and observations on bi-directional governance, indicating that the board can govern the owners.
董事会在治理领域的职能:四个瑞典家族企业的比较案例研究
本文的目的是探讨董事会职能及其在家族企业中的定位。设计/方法/方法通过对瑞典中型家族企业的四个案例的结构化归纳研究,作者证明董事会职能可以位于共同董事会以外的其他领域,并提出了解释其分布的命题。(1)董事会只是执行董事会职能的几个场所之一。(2)董事会履行的职能在类型和重点上各不相同。(3)家族企业中的非家族董事服务于所有者,有时甚至治理所有者,这是作者所说的“双向治理”。(4)家族亲缘策略影响家族治理。(5)董事会治理的利用源于家族(包括其构成、家族战略和治理战略)、董事会构成和企业经营状况。研究局限/启示作为个案研究,研究结果仅限于概念和理论命题。采用结构化归纳法,不仅是单纯的归纳法,而且还包含归纳法的主观性。实际含义治理代理应该对董事会有一种工具性的看法,将其视为其他可能的治理领域之一,从而节约治理。对活跃董事会的制度压力可能会自相矛盾地降低董事会在家族企业中的重要性。家族企业的董事会对董事会职能的重视程度不同,这些职能在不同的治理领域的执行重点也不同。作者提出了亲属战略的概念,指的是所有者结构的治理重要性和对双向治理的观察,表明董事会可以治理所有者。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.50
自引率
33.30%
发文量
51
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