Agency Theory is the dominant theory underpinning corporate governance. The theory arises from economic theory and states that the separation of management from control in firms creates agency issues due to the conflicts of interest between owners(principals) and managers(agents) who are assumed to pursue self-interest (Fama & Jensen 1983; Eisenhardt 1989). This relationship enables information … Continue reading
Category Archives: CEO
The Boards Role in appointing the CEO, the case of Horse Racing Ireland
The coverage of the re-appointment of the existing CEO of Horse Racing Ireland(HRI) and the boards involvement in that decision highlights a key board role, that is, the boards control role (O’Conor 2017). The board of directors has three key roles: control, strategy and service (Zahra & Pearce 1989). The boards control role derives from … Continue reading
Chairperson-CEO Duality
CEO-Chairperson duality, that is, combining the roles of CEO and Chairperson of a board of directors, has been a focus of research, and the UK Governance Code discourages role duality (Solomon 2013; FRC 2014). This separation recognises the different roles of the two positions and that separation will minimise agency issues (Solomon 2013). The primary … Continue reading
GLEN: Good governance protects your most important asset, your reputation
Evidence of poor financial monitoring, managerial hegemony and overall failures of governance have brought “an abrupt and inglorious end to the story of an organisation which was instrumental in driving arguably the biggest social, legal and cultural change this generation has seen” (Linehan 2017). In 1988 homosexuality between consenting adults was a criminal offence and … Continue reading
boards / CEO / corporate governance / director / non-profit / state agency / state-owned enterprise / women
Corporate Boards and the impact of Women Directors
“Only 17% of directors are women in Irish companies”[1] “One in three women directors in Ireland say a glass ceiling exists in Irish business”[2] On International Women’s Day (March 8th) numbers like these grab headlines and prompt urgent discussion, but do not answer the question, does board level gender diversity make a difference. Continue reading
Corporate Governance 