The practices of corporate governance and strategic management have attracted considerable attention in recent years, especially as accountability for company performance has shifted from the Chief Executive to the previously ignored board of directors. While many directors are well-intended and work hard, confusion over the appropriate role of the board and what corporate governance is has resulted in more questions than answers. Public reports of incompetence, ineptitude, hubris, excess, fraud and moral failures has not helped either.
Research interest
My research interest is the board of directors, specifically the board's contribution to, and influence on, organisational performance.
I studied under Dr James Lockhart, completing doctoral research in 2016. My ground-breaking longitudinal study produced several insights including clarifying what corporate governance is (a mechanism to provide steerage and guidance, activated by a competent, functional board), and a framework to enhance board effectiveness (the strategic governance framework).
Doctoral thesis, research papers and published articles
Polite notice: Copyright of the doctoral thesis and all of the papers and articles listed on this page rests with the author(s). Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1994. The moral right to be identified as the author(s) is asserted.
Doctoral thesis:
Crow, P. R. (2016). Understanding corporate governance, strategic management and firm performance: As evidenced from the boardroom. (Ph.D thesis), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. (Abstract)
Book:
Crow, P. R. (forthcoming). Boardcraft: The art of governing with impact.
Papers and articles:
Crow, P. R. (forthcoming). The Five per cent club.
Crow, P. R. (2022). Towards more effective corporate governance. The Hunt Report, Vol 15, 9–13.
Crow, P. R. (2021). Beyond diversity: The importance of wisdom, maturity and proximity. Ethical Boardroom, Issue 24.
Crow, P. R. (2021). Towards more effective corporate governance. CEO Institute Blog, October 2021.
Crow, P. R. (2020). SEEing beyond ESG. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2020. (requires registration, at no charge).
Crow, P. R. (2018). Corporate governance: Embracing a new mindset. Peter Drucker Society Blog, November 2018.
Crow, P. R. (2018). Boards and firm performance: Explaining a contingent relationship. International Corporate Governance Society: Fourth Annual Conference. Shanghai, China.
Crow, P. R. (2018). In pursuit of effective corporate governance. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2018.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2017). Understanding corporate governance directly: Illuminating an important methodological issue. European Institute of Advanced Management Studies: Fourteenth Workshop on Corporate Governance. Brussels, Belgium.
Lockhart, J. C., Crow, P. R., Kominik, A., & Strong, M. W. (2017). Governance revisited: The sacred and profane memories of an effective corporate director. European Institute of Advanced Management Studies: Fourteenth Workshop on Corporate Governance. Brussels, Belgium.
Crow, P. R. (2017). The strategic board. Governance + Compliance, May 2017
Crow, P. R. (2017). Corporate governance: Reaching for the 'reset' button. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2017.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2016). How boards influence business performance: Developing an explanation. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, 37(8), 1022–1037.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2016). Board influence from and beyond the boardroom: A provisional explanation. European Institute of Advanced Management Studies: Thirteenth Workshop on Corporate Governance. Milan, Italy. (Best paper award)
Crow, P. R. (2016). Effective board contributions in social enterprises. Ethical Boardroom, Spring 2016.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2015). Is corporate governance a structure, a process, a group of policies, or something else? Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Lisbon, Portugal.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2015). Re-assessing governance research: A return to first principles. European Institute of Advanced Management Studies: Twelfth Workshop on Corporate Governance. Brussels, Belgium. (selected as 'lead paper')
Crow, P. R. (2015). Internships: A vehicle for getting directors up to speed? Ethical Boardroom, Summer 2015.
Crow, P. R. (2015). Boards, strategy and business performance: Observations from inside boardrooms. Proceedings of the 15th European Academy of Management Conference. Warsaw, Poland.
Crow, P. R. (2015). Executive-controlled boards, power and influence: A reality check. Toulouse Business School: Second International Governance Workshop. Barcelona, Spain.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). Searching for accountability in corporate governance. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2014.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). The crucial importance of access to the advancement of governance research. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Zagreb, Croatia.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014) Corporate governance issues in New Zealand and Australia. Ethical Boardroom.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). On the use of critical realism to advance governance research beyond correlations. Proceedings of the 28th British Academy of Management Conference. Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Crow, P. R., Lockhart, J. C., & Lewis, K. V. (2014). Towards a re-conceptualisation of governance, via strategic decision-making and performance. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Boston, USA.
Crow, P. R., Lockhart, J. C., & Lewis, K. V. (2013). The relationship between governance and performance: Literature reveals new insights. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Klagenfurt, Austria.
Lockhart, J. C., & Crow, P. R. (2013). An exploration of the board management nexus: From agency to performance. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Klagenfurt, Austria.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2013). The impact of governance on the performance of a high growth company: An exemplar case study. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of Management, Leadership and Governance. Bangkok, Thailand.