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    ICMLG'15: the state of corporate governance research

    Accountability Conferences Governance Performance Research
    James Lockhart, of Massey University, presented the results of an investigation he undertook, to understand what the research community has added in terms of knowledge about corporate governance in the last two decades. He did this by re-reading every issue of the top corporate governance journal (entitled Corporate Governance: An International Review). Over the 22 years since the first issue, 782 papers have been published (totalling 11,063 pages!). Lockhart has reviewed all of them, categorised them and done some analysis.
    Sadly, his findings provide little comfort for the research community. They also challenge many of the commonly-held 'maxims' that have defined the commentary of belief system about the phenomenon:
    • There is no unifying theory—simply put, we don't have a common understanding of what corporate governance is or does
    • There is no coherent research agenda.
    • The rate of progress (of research) is perhaps best described as 'plodding'.
    • There seems to be a fundamental failure amongst researchers to understand the motivation of business.
    • While most researchers claim 'agency theory' is the dominant theory, the reality is quite different: Approximately 42% of the research is based on agency theory. The rest is fragmented across five or six other theoretical frameworks.
    • Only 21 of the 782 papers even attempted to attribute causality or approach the subject of prediction (that if boards do X, then the likelihood of performance outcomes is Y).
    Gosh, this is a real indictment. It's little wonder that boards are reluctant to admit researchers to boardrooms to undertake research. Researchers are producing outputs for sure, but the queue of companies and directors waiting to consume the findings because they are relevant is remarkably short.
    Lockhart's verbal summary was consistent with my own findings: that much of what business schools produce is of questionable value. If the research agenda is to be advanced in any meaningful way, then a whole new approach is not only warranted, it is crucial.
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    ICMLG'15: Voluntary disclosure

    Conferences Governance Performance
    Syelia Md Zaini, a researcher from Waikato University, presented an interesting paper on voluntary disclosure in developing Asian nations. Voluntary disclosure has been associated with increased market capitalisation and with the expectations of investors, yet the understanding of how voluntary disclosure works and why it might be important is fairly limited.
    Zaini's paper is a work-in-progress, part of her doctoral research. So far, she has analysed prior research to identify why companies have adopted voluntary disclosure practices. These include corporate governance requirements; peer pressure; and, accounting and auditing regulations. All of these drivers are compliance orientations: which suggests that voluntary disclosure may not be that voluntary! Zaini hopes to build on her current work, to answer the important 'so what' question. If she can achieve that, the answers could have quite meaningful implications for businesses motivated by growth. I look forward to reading her findings.
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    ICMLG'15: Opening Keynote

    Conferences Governance Language
    The 3rd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance got underway in Auckland New Zealand this morning, with a keynote presentation by Phil O'Reilly, CEO of BusinessNZ. BusinessNZ is the apex organisation that speaks for businesses and those in the private sector in particular. O'Reilly is also the Chair of Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD and of International Labour Organisation a United Nations agency, so he has a strong global perspective.
    O'Reilly's topic was The Research Agenda in Business. He spoke passionately about the need for high quality research to inform the business community to bring rigour to the 'educated guesses' of many business owners and leaders. O'Reilly suggested that if researchers are to deliver 'value', research needs to be relevant. More specifically, he argued that business needs research that is:
    • Applied
    • Dynamic
    • Affecting growth
    • Strategic
    • Tactical
    • Pro-business
    O'Reilly had some interesting ideas including that profit, business and capitalism are not ends in themselves. Rather, they are means: the actual end being successful communities. This was a refreshing comment, because it demonstrated that business has a vital place in the wider social fabric (the community). However, the value of the contribution of business is dependent on high quality research, to help leaders move from educated guesses to robust applicable knowledge.
    The keynote set a strong tone for the conference ahead: that the academic–practice divide must be bridged, through relevant research that can be used by business leaders to grow strong, high-performance businesses.
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    International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance

    Conferences Governance Leadership Management Research
    Are you interested in the latest developments in management, leadership and corporate governance? If so, you might like to check out the 3rd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance being held in Auckland, New Zealand on Thu 12 Feb and Fri 13 Feb. Details are available here.
    The keynote speakers are:
    The two previous editions, in Bangkok and Boston, were great forums. Auckland will be no different: ideas will be shared, emergent research findings presented and new ways of improving business performance debated. In addition to the main conference topics, the following themes will be discussed during mini track sessions:
    • Pluralistic approaches to effective corporate governance research
    • The role of leadership in effective corporate governance
    • Research into cultural and gender leadership
    • Effective corporate governance
    • Effective leadership at different stages of organisational growth
    • The role of women in sustainability management
    As usual, summaries of each session will be posted here throughout the conference. Please let me know if a particular paper or conference track interests you and I will do my best to attend and report on it.
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    Corporate governance speaking tour: March 2015

    Conferences Governance Leadership Strategy
    My first scheduled trip to UK and Europe for 2015 is only a few weeks away now. The dates are 9 to 19 March. This trip includes speaking engagements, an annual conference and quite a few meetings; primarily on board and corporate governance topics. Here's a selection of the activities my programme:
    • Speaking at the "Inspiring Leaders Network" symposium in Leeds
    • Guest lecturer: Masters programme at Winchester University
    • Attending the ICSA annual conference in London
    • Meetings with a publisher, executives and researchers in London
    • Meetings with banking executives and academics in Zurich
    • Visit to Oxford (as a tourist!)
    The programme is nearly complete, but there is still some space for a few more meetings or a speaking engagement, in England or Europe. If you want to discuss some aspect of board practice or business strategy; learn about my latest research; or, if you would simply like to meet informally to discuss something else of interest to you, please contact me.
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    ECMLG2014: Closing reflections

    Conferences Governance Management Performance Phd Research
    The 10th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance is over. The conference organiser, Academic Conferences International, and the host, VERN' University, did a great job hosting the event in Zagreb, Croatia. I now have returned to London, ahead of some meetings with researchers and business people before flying home later in the week. Some reflections on the conference:
    • Conference numbers were steady when compared to the last couple of years. However, the quality of the papers, and the quality of the questions and informal discussions was up on recent years.
    • Notwithstanding the generally high standard, several papers should never have been accepted on to the programme. The session that I chaired was one of those that suffered in this regard: one speaker mounted a personal crusade on the topic of corruption. He vehemently rebutted questions and comments from the floor during question time even though those asking the questions and making the comments had supporting references (and the presenter did not). I hope the organisers work a little harder on the review process in the future, to ensure this type problem does not occur again. It lowers the tone of the conference unnecessarily.
    • The divide between what researchers know and what practitioners think they know is wide. It seems academic researchers continue to be quite cautious in terms of their approaches to knowledge creation, and practitioners are quite cavalier (making claims without any robust supporting evidence). This is particularly apparent in the corporate governance space, where practitioners are quite happy to claim a causal link between various structural responses (women on boards, number of independent directors) and company performance, even though the research community has produced conflicting evidence in each case.
    • Personally, I was able to test several aspects of my current research, both in the paper that I presented, and informally over food and drink. The feedback was really helpful to the refinement process. Also, I received several approaches to collaborate on some projects in the future which is quite exciting.
    • I was pleasantly surprised at the state of the Croatian economy, the openness of the people, and the general condition of Zagreb. The Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago, signalling the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe. While the Croats have embraced western ways in the cities at least, they seem to have done so without losing their rich heritage. The resultant meld appears to be quite rich.
    Sharp-eyed readers will notice that I have not reflected on my own paper, or on the session that I chaired. The reason for this is straightforward. It's pretty hard to offer anything approaching an objective critique of one's own paper, and the prospect of making comprehensive notes (to inform the blog summary) when also chairing the session is 'too hard'. If you would like a report on the session or my paper, or would like any other information about the conference, please contact me.
    Next year, the conference is being hosted by the Military Academy in Lisbon, Portugal. I met Luis and Carlos when they announced the location and the date (12–13 November 2015). They are great guys and, if the professionalism and commitment they demonstrated in Zagreb is any indication, the 11th edition of the conference promises to be a fantastic event.