IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hig/wpaper/49man2016.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Unintended Benefits of Empowering Boards in Conglomerates: The Case Study of Afk Sistema

Author

Listed:
  • Tatiana Dolgopyatova

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Alexander Libman

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Andrei Yakovlev

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of boards of directors of conglomerate subsidiaries in emerging markets. The paper based on a case study of AFK Sistema—a large diversified Russian business group including subsidiaries in 15 sectors. We show that creating corporate governance institutions at the subsidiary level can have unexpected advantages for the group as a whole and can be used to improve the quality of decision-making in the group. Sistema implemented corporate governance at this level to attract capital and to satisfy the demands of the minority shareholders, but over time started to use the already established institutions of the corporate governance as a tool of corporate management.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana Dolgopyatova & Alexander Libman & Andrei Yakovlev, 2016. "The Unintended Benefits of Empowering Boards in Conglomerates: The Case Study of Afk Sistema," HSE Working papers WP BRP 49/MAN/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:49man2016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.hse.ru/data/2016/02/16/1139230518/49MAN2016.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geoffrey C. Kiel & Kevin Hendry & Gavin J. Nicholson, 2006. "Corporate Governance Options for the Local Subsidiaries of Multinational Enterprises," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(6), pages 568-576, November.
    2. Catherine Welch & Rebecca Piekkari, 2006. "Crossing language boundaries: Qualitative interviewing in international business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 417-437, August.
    3. Saul Estrin & Svetlana Poukliakova & Daniel Shapiro, 2009. "The Performance Effects of Business Groups in Russia," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 393-420, May.
    4. Wenpin Tsai, 2002. "Social Structure of “Coopetition” Within a Multiunit Organization: Coordination, Competition, and Intraorganizational Knowledge Sharing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 179-190, April.
    5. James Gillies & Mark Dickinson, 1999. "The Governance of Transnational Firms: some preliminary hypotheses," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 237-247, July.
    6. Jack A. Nickerson & Todd R. Zenger, 2002. "Being Efficiently Fickle: A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Choice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(5), pages 547-566, October.
    7. Sergei Guriev & Andrei Rachinsky, 2005. "The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 131-150, Winter.
    8. Y. Du & M. Deloof & A. Jorissen, 2011. "Active boards of directors in foreign subsidiaries," Post-Print hal-00799069, HAL.
    9. 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.
    10. Stefan Voigt, 1999. "Implicit Consitutional Change-Changing the Meaning of the Constitution Without Changing the Text of the Document," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 197-224, May.
    11. Iwasaki, Ichiro, 2008. "The determinants of board composition in a transforming economy: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 532-549, December.
    12. Fisman, Raymond & Khanna, Tarun, 2004. "Facilitating Development: The Role of Business Groups," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 609-628, April.
    13. Estrin, Saul & Prevezer, Martha, 2011. "The role of informal institutions in corporate governance: Brazil, Russia, India, and China compared," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33552, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Raymond Van Wijk & Justin J. P. Jansen & Marjorie A. Lyles, 2008. "Inter‐ and Intra‐Organizational Knowledge Transfer: A Meta‐Analytic Review and Assessment of its Antecedents and Consequences," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 830-853, June.
    15. Zahra, Shaker A. & Filatotchev, Igor & Wright, Mike, 2009. "How do threshold firms sustain corporate entrepreneurship? The role of boards and absorptive capacity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 248-260, May.
    16. Laurent Leksell & Ulf Lindgren, 1982. "The Board of Directors in Foreign Subsidiaries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 13(1), pages 27-38, March.
    17. Du, Yan & Deloof, Marc & Jorissen, Ann, 2015. "The Roles of Subsidiary Boards in Multinational Enterprises," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 169-181.
    18. Muravyev, Alexander & Berezinets, Irina & Ilina, Yulia, 2014. "The structure of corporate boards and private benefits of control: Evidence from the Russian stock exchange," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 247-261.
    19. Carl F. Fey & Patrick Furu, 2008. "Top management incentive compensation and knowledge sharing in multinational corporations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1301-1323, December.
    20. Saul Estrin & Martha Prevezer, 2011. "The role of informal institutions in corporate governance: Brazil, Russia, India, and China compared," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 41-67, March.
    21. Libman Alexander & Schultz André & Graeber Thomas, 2016. "Tax Return as a Political Statement," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 377-445, July.
    22. Morten Huse & Violina Rindova, 2001. "Stakeholders' Expectations of Board Roles: The Case of Subsidiary Boards," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 5(2), pages 153-178, June.
    23. Mark P. Kriger, 1988. "The increasing role of subsidiary boards in MNCs: An empirical study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 347-360, July.
    24. Kim, Bongjin & Prescott, John E. & Kim, Sung Min, 2005. "Differentiated governance of foreign subsidiaries in transnational corporations: an agency theory perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 43-66, March.
    25. Leff, Nathaniel H, 1978. "Industrial Organization and Entrepreneurship in the Developing Countries: The Economic Groups," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(4), pages 661-675, July.
    26. Ingmar Björkman & Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen & Li Li, 2004. "Managing knowledge transfer in MNCs: the impact of headquarters control mechanisms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(5), pages 443-455, September.
    27. David M. Woodruff, 2000. "Rules for Followers: Institutional Theory and the New Politics of Economic Backwardness in Russia," Politics & Society, , vol. 28(4), pages 437-482, December.
    28. Berglof, Erik & Perotti, Enrico, 1994. "The governance structure of the Japanese financial keiretsu," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 259-284, October.
    29. Jaussaud, Jacques & Schaaper, Johannes, 2006. "Control mechanisms of their subsidiaries by multinational firms: A multidimensional perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 23-45, March.
    30. Alexander Abramov, 2015. "Russia’s Money Markets and Financial Institutions in 2014," Published Papers 206, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, revised 2015.
    31. Li, Li, 2005. "The effects of trust and shared vision on inward knowledge transfer in subsidiaries' intra- and inter-organizational relationships," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 77-95, February.
    32. Robert W. McGee, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Transition Economies," Springer Books, in: Robert W. McGee (ed.), Corporate Governance in Transition Economies, chapter 1, pages 3-20, Springer.
    33. Olga Lazareva & Andrei Rachinsky & Sergey Stepanov, 2008. "A Survey of Corporate Governance in Russia," Springer Books, in: Robert W. McGee (ed.), Corporate Governance in Transition Economies, chapter 32, pages 315-349, Springer.
    34. Saul Estrin & Martha Prevezer, 2010. "The Role of Informal Institutions in Corporate Governance: Brazil, Russia, India and China Compared," Working Papers 31, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    35. 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.
    36. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    37. Frye, Timothy M. & Iwasaki, Ichiro, 2011. "Government directors and business–state relations in Russia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 642-658.
    38. Williamson, Oliver E, 1971. "The Vertical Integration of Production: Market Failure Considerations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 112-123, May.
    39. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1cu21pio6c90g9i5oedr5hnaa3 is not listed on IDEAS
    40. Peng, Mike W. & Buck, Trevor & Filatotchev, Igor, 2003. "Do outside directors and new managers help improve firm performance? An exploratory study in Russian privatization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 348-360, November.
    41. 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.
    42. Chernykh, Lucy, 2008. "Ultimate ownership and control in Russia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 169-192, April.
    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. Muravyev, Alexander, 2017. "Boards of directors in Russian publicly traded companies in 1998–2014: Structure, dynamics and performance effects," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 5-25.
    2. Maria Terskova & Elena Agadullina, 2018. "Perceived Intelligence And Long-Term Stigmatization Of Dirty Workers," HSE Working papers WP BRP 95/PSY/2018, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

    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. 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. Ruth V. Aguilera & Valentina Marano & Ilir Haxhi, 2019. "International corporate governance: A review and opportunities for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(4), pages 457-498, June.
    3. Du, Yan & Deloof, Marc & Jorissen, Ann, 2015. "The Roles of Subsidiary Boards in Multinational Enterprises," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 169-181.
    4. Muellner, Jakob & Klopf, Patricia & Nell, Phillip C., 2017. "Trojan Horses or Local Allies: Host-country National Managers in Developing Market Subsidiaries," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 306-325.
    5. Ichiro Iwasaki & Satoshi Mizobata & Alexander Muravyev, 2018. "Ownership dynamics and firm performance in an emerging economy: a meta-analysis of the Russian literature," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 290-333, May.
    6. Muravyev, Alexander, 2017. "Boards of directors in Russian publicly traded companies in 1998–2014: Structure, dynamics and performance effects," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 5-25.
    7. Anand Saxena, 2013. "Transgenerational succession in business groups in India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 769-789, September.
    8. Carsten Sprenger & Olga Lazareva, 2017. "Corporate Governance and Investment: Evidence from Russian Unlisted Firms," HSE Working papers WP BRP 160/EC/2017, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    9. Eric Gedajlovic & Michael Carney, 2010. "Markets, Hierarchies, and Families: Toward a Transaction Cost Theory of the Family Firm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(6), pages 1145-1172, November.
    10. Sprenger, Carsten & Lazareva, Olga, 2022. "Corporate governance and investment-cash flow sensitivity: Evidence from Russian unlisted firms," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 71-100.
    11. Grosman, Anna & Leiponen, Aija, 2018. "Organizational transparency and power in firm ownership networks," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1158-1177.
    12. Toru Yoshikawa & Abdul A. Rasheed, 2010. "Family Control and Ownership Monitoring in Family‐Controlled Firms in Japan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 274-295, March.
    13. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Nielsen, Bo B. & Nielsen, Sabina, 2016. "Home country institutions and the internationalization of state owned enterprises: A cross-country analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 294-307.
    14. Muravyev, Alexander & Berezinets, Irina & Ilina, Yulia, 2014. "The structure of corporate boards and private benefits of control: Evidence from the Russian stock exchange," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 247-261.
    15. Zeng, Rong & Grøgaard, Birgitte & Steel, Piers, 2018. "Complements or substitutes? A meta-analysis of the role of integration mechanisms for knowledge transfer in the MNE network," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 415-432.
    16. Shirokova Galina & Knatko Dmitri & Vega Gina, 2013. "To Be or Not to Be: When Should a Threshold Firm in an Emerging Market Move to Professional Management?," EERC Working Paper Series 13/01e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    17. Martin Wielemaker & Eric Gedajlovic, 2011. "Governance and capabilities: Asia’s entrepreneurial performance and stock of venture forms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 157-185, March.
    18. Holmes, R. Michael & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Kim, Hicheon & Wan, William P. & Holcomb, Tim R., 2018. "International strategy and business groups: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 134-150.
    19. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    20. Alexeev, Michael & Weber, Shlomo (ed.), 2013. "The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199759927.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    diversified corporation; board of directors; parent company; subsidiary; corporate governance; corporate management; emerging markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hig:wpaper:49man2016. 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: Shamil Abdulaev or Shamil Abdulaev (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hsecoru.html .

    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.