IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v31y2007i5p687-711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Correlates of Board Empowerment in Small Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Jonas Gabrielsson

Abstract

This study seeks to advance the understanding of board empowerment in small companies. Predictions based on agency and resource dependency theories were used to examine how contingency factors correlate with board empowerment, in this study conceptualized as a larger number of board members, a higher representation of outside directors, and separate CEO and board chair positions. Statistical analyses on a sample of 135 small companies gave ample support for the agency–theoretic prediction that board empowerment in small companies is a response to satisfy the demands from owners not directly involved in managing the company. Other factors influencing board empowerment were younger CEOs, high degree of exports, and past poor company performance. The influence of these contingency factors, however, was not as strong and extensive as the presence of outside owners. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and their implications for understanding boards and governance in small companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonas Gabrielsson, 2007. "Correlates of Board Empowerment in Small Companies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 687-711, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:31:y:2007:i:5:p:687-711
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00195.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00195.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00195.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fried, Vance H. & Bruton, Garry D. & Hisrich, Robert D., 1998. "Strategy and the board of directors in venture capital-backed firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 493-503, November.
    2. Grinstein, Amir & Goldman, Arieh, 2006. "Characterizing the technology firm: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 121-143, February.
    3. Maria Lindqvist, 1997. "Infant Multinationals: Internationalisation of Small Technology-Based Firms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Dylan Jones-Evans & Magnus Klofsten (ed.), Technology, Innovation and Enterprise, chapter 10, pages 303-324, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    5. Svante Andersson, 2000. "The Internationalization of the Firm from an Entrepreneurial Perspective," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 63-92, March.
    6. Kaplan, Steven N. & Minton, Bernadette A., 1994. "Appointments of outsiders to Japanese boards: Determinants and implications for managers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 225-258, October.
    7. Amy J. Hillman & Albert A. Cannella & Ramona L. Paetzold, 2000. "The Resource Dependence Role of Corporate Directors: Strategic Adaptation of Board Composition in Response to Environmental Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 235-256, March.
    8. Rosenstein, Joseph, 1988. "The board and strategy: Venture capital and high technology," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 159-170.
    9. Richard Castaldi & Max S. Wortman Jr., 1984. "Boards of Directors in Small Corporations: An Untapped Resource," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 9(2), pages 1-10, October.
    10. Yuval Deutsch & Thomas W. Ross, 2003. "You are Known by the Directors You Keep: Reputable Directors as a Signaling Mechanism for Young Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(8), pages 1003-1017, August.
    11. John A. Pearce & Shaker A. Zahra, 1992. "Board Composition From A Strategic Contingency Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 411-438, July.
    12. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    13. Charles W. L. Hill & Thomas M. Jones, 1992. "Stakeholder‐Agency Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 131-154, March.
    14. Catherine M. Daily & Dan R. Dalton, 1993. "Board of Directors Leadership and Structure: Control and Performance Implications," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(3), pages 65-81, April.
    15. Rosenstein, Joseph & Bruno, Albert V. & Bygrave, William D. & Taylor, Natalie T., 1993. "The CEO, venture capitalists, and the board," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 99-113, March.
    16. Morten Huse, 2000. "Boards of directors in SMEs: a review and research agenda," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 271-290, October.
    17. Michael Lubatkin & Eric Gedajlovic & William S. Schulze, 2004. "Crossing the threshold from founder management to professional management : A governance perspective," Post-Print hal-02311640, HAL.
    18. Todd A. Finkle, 1998. "The Relationship between Boards of Directors and Initial Public Offerings in the Biotechnology Industry," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(3), pages 5-29, April.
    19. Daily, Catherine M. & Dalton, Dan R., 1992. "The relationship between governance structure and corporate performance in entrepreneurial firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 375-386, September.
    20. Paul Westhead, 1999. "Factors Associated with the Employment of Non-Executive Directors by Unquoted Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 3(1), pages 81-111, March.
    21. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    22. Mark K. Fiegener & Bonnie M. Brown & Dirk R. Dreux & William J. Dennis, 2000. "The adoption of outside boards by small private US firms," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 291-309, October.
    23. Mark K. Fiegener, 2005. "Determinants of Board Participation in the Strategic Decisions of Small Corporations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(5), pages 627-650, September.
    24. Jens Grundei & Till Talaulicar, 2002. "Company Law and Corporate Governance of Start-ups in Germany: Legal Stipulations, Managerial Requirements, and Modification Strategies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-27, March.
    25. Lerner, Josh, 1995. "Venture Capitalists and the Oversight of Private Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 301-318, March.
    26. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1988. "The Determinants of Board Composition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(4), pages 589-606, Winter.
    27. Johan Wiklund & DEAN Shepherd, 2003. "Knowledge‐based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium‐sized businesses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1307-1314, December.
    28. Eric Gedajlovic & Michael H. Lubatkin & William S. Schulze, 2004. "Crossing the Threshold from Founder Management to Professional Management: A Governance Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 899-912, July.
    29. S. Trevis Certo & Catherine M. Daily & Dan R. Dalton, 2001. "Signaling Firm Value through Board Structure: An Investigation of Initial Public Offerings," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(2), pages 33-50, December.
    30. Gerard George & D. Robley Wood & Raihan Khan, 2001. "Networking strategy of boards: implications for small and medium-sized enterprises," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 269-285, July.
    31. Begley, Thomas M. & Boyd, David P., 1987. "Psychological characteristics associated with performence in entrepreneurial firms and smaller businesses," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 79-93.
    32. Bengt Johannisson & Morten Huse, 2000. "Recruiting outside board members in the small family business: an ideological challenge," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 353-378, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Libman & Tatiana G. Dolgopyatova & Andrey A. Yakovlev, 2014. "The Birth Of An Entrepreneurial Board In Emerging Markets: A Russian Case," HSE Working papers WP BRP 29/MAN/2014, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Kimberly A. Eddleston & Franz W. Kellermanns & Thomas M. Zellweger, 2012. "Exploring the Entrepreneurial Behavior of Family Firms: Does the Stewardship Perspective Explain Differences?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(2), pages 347-367, March.
    3. Anup Banerjee & Mattias Nordqvist & Karin Hellerstedt, 2020. "The role of the board chair—A literature review and suggestions for future research," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 372-405, November.
    4. Oliver Lukason & María-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano, 2020. "Corporate Governance Characteristics of Private SMEs’ Annual Report Submission Violations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Jolien Roelandt & Petra Andries & Mirjam Knockaert, 2022. "The contribution of board experience to opportunity development in high-tech ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1627-1645, March.
    6. Waseem Akhter & Arshad Hassan, 2024. "Does corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance? Empirical evidence from BRICS countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 566-578, January.
    7. Knockaert, Mirjam & Bjornali, Ekaterina S. & Erikson, Truls, 2015. "Joining forces: Top management team and board chair characteristics as antecedents of board service involvement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 420-435.
    8. Erhan Kilincarslan, 2018. "The Factors Determining the Dividend Policy of Financial Firms Listed on the Borsa Istanbul," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 75-109.
    9. Elien Vandenbroucke & Mirjam Knockaert & Deniz Ucbasaran, 2016. "Outside Board Human Capital and Early Stage High–Tech Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(4), pages 759-779, July.
    10. Lohe, Fynn-Willem & Calabrò, Andrea, 2017. "Please do not disturb! Differentiating board tasks in family and non-family firms during financial distress," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 36-49.
    11. María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez & Isabel Gallego-Álvarez, 2020. "Do board characteristics drive firm performance? An international perspective," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1251-1297, December.
    12. Ramdani, Boumediene & Belaid, Fateh & Goutte, Stephane, 2023. "SME internationalisation: Do the types of innovation matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Carmela Rizza & Daniela Ruggeri, 2018. "The institutionalization of management accounting tools in family firms: the relevance of multiple logics," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 503-528, February.
    14. Claudio Camfield & Mário Franco, 2019. "Professionalisation of the Family Firm and Its Relationship with Personal Values," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 28(1), pages 144-188, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hezun Li & Siri Terjesen & Timurs Umans, 2020. "Corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms: a systematic review and research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 43-74, January.
    2. Alessandro Minichilli & Cathrine Hansen, 2007. "The board advisory tasks in small firms and the event of crises," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 5-22, March.
    3. Mark K. Fiegener, 2005. "Determinants of Board Participation in the Strategic Decisions of Small Corporations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(5), pages 627-650, September.
    4. Mark K. Fiegener & Bonnie M. Brown & Dirk R. Dreux IV & William J. Dennis Jr., 2000. "CEO Stakes and Board Composition in Small Private Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 24(4), pages 5-24, July.
    5. Bart Clarysse & Mirjam Knockaert & Andy Lockett, 2007. "Outside Board Members in High Tech Start-ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 243-259, October.
    6. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, September.
    7. Andrea Calabrò & Donata Mussolino, 2013. "How do boards of directors contribute to family SME export intensity? The role of formal and informal governance mechanisms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(2), pages 363-403, May.
    8. Shamsud D. Chowdhury & Eric Zengxiang Wang, 2020. "Board size, director compensation, and firm transition across stock exchanges: evidence from Canada," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 685-712, September.
    9. Pugliese, A. & Bezemer, P.J. & Zattoni, A. & Huse, M. & van den Bosch, F.A.J. & Volberda, H.W., 2009. "Boards of Directors’ Contribution to Strategy: A Literature Review and Research Agenda," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-013-STR, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    10. Wirtz, Peter, 2011. "The cognitive dimension of corporate governance in fast growing entrepreneurial firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 431-447.
    11. Todd A. Finkle, 1998. "The Relationship between Boards of Directors and Initial Public Offerings in the Biotechnology Industry," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(3), pages 5-29, April.
    12. Jonathan D. Arthurs & Lowell W. Busenitz & Robert E. Hoskisson & Richard A. Johnson, 2009. "Firm–Specific Human Capital and Governance in IPO Firms: Addressing Agency and Resource Dependence Concerns," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(4), pages 845-865, July.
    13. He, Lerong, 2008. "Do founders matter? A study of executive compensation, governance structure and firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 257-279, May.
    14. Hiebl, Martin R.W., 2013. "Bean counter or strategist? Differences in the role of the CFO in family and non-family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 147-161.
    15. Hanna Maria Sievinen & Tuuli Ikäheimonen & Timo Pihkala, 2020. "The advisory role of non-family board members: a case-based study of a family firm," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(4), pages 871-903, December.
    16. Michael A. Abebe & Pingshu Li & Keshab Acharya & Joshua J. Daspit, 2020. "The founder chief executive officer: A review of current insights and directions for future research," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 406-436, November.
    17. Franco Ernesto Rubino & Paolo Tenuta & Domenico Rocco Cambrea, 2017. "Board characteristics effects on performance in family and non-family business: a multi-theoretical approach," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 623-658, September.
    18. Amina Hamdouni, 2011. "Impact de la syndication sur la performance des entreprises financées par capital-investissement et sur la richesse des parties prenantes," Post-Print hal-00650456, HAL.
    19. Jean–Luc Arregle & Lucia Naldi & Mattias Nordqvist & Michael A. Hitt, 2012. "Internationalization of Family–Controlled Firms: A Study of the Effects of External Involvement in Governance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1115-1143, November.
    20. Afzalur Rashid, 2015. "Revisiting Agency Theory: Evidence of Board Independence and Agency Cost from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 181-198, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:31:y:2007:i:5:p:687-711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.