A configurational analysis of board involvement in intergovernmental organizations

• Author: Ryan Federo,Angel Saz‐Carranza
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12241
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Date: 01 November 2018

EMPIRICAL

A configurational analysis of board involvement in

intergovernmental organizations

Ryan Federo |Angel Saz‐Carranza

ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull

University, Av. Pedralbes, 60‐62, E‐08034

Barcelona, Spain

Correspondence

Ryan Federo, ESADE Business School, Ramon

Llull University, Av. Pedralbes, 60‐62, E‐

08034, Barcelona, Spain.

Email: ryan.federo@esade.edu

Abstract

Manuscript Type: Empirical

Research Issue: Research on board involvement has evolved and shifted towards

seeking the appropriate role these boards should play in the strategy process. Current

theoretical debates and inconclusive empirical findings in the literature point to an

unresolved issue regarding the level of board involvement that is conducive to effec-

tive strategy formulation. This study aims to identify the levels of board involvement

that are associated with highly effective and less effective strategy formulation.

Research Findings: We examine the boards of 16 intergovernmental organizations

by conducting an inductive fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis to identify dif-

ferent levels of board involvement that are associated with highly effective and less

effective strategy formulation. Our results illustrate that both active and less active

board involvement are associated with highly effective strategy formulation, while

an intermediate level of board involvement is associated with less effective strategy

formulation.

Theoretical Implications: This study contributes to the literature seeking to under-

stand board involvement in the strategy process. We build a multi‐dimensional board

involvement framework consisting of board dynamics, the use of director resources,

and context. We use the information‐processing perspective to elucidate the relation-

ship between different levels of board involvement and effective strategy

formulation.

Practitioner Implications: Our findings suggest that the optimal level of board

involvement in strategy formulation depends on an organization's complexity, a factor

which determines its information‐processing needs.

KEYWORDS

Corporate Governance, Board Involvement, Strategy Formulation, Qualitative Comparative

Analysis, Intergovernmental Organizations

1|INTRODUCTION

Research on board involvement in the strategy process has evolved

over the years (Pugliese et al., 2009). Early scholarship emphasized

the board's monitoring role (e.g., Fama & Jensen, 1983), assuming

that boards merely ratified or rejected strategies formulated by CEOs

(e.g., Herman, 1981; Lorsch & Young, 1990; Mace, 1971). A second

wave of research focused on the board's advisory role, specifically

on how boards provided input and advice during strategy formulation

(e.g., McNulty & Pettigrew, 1999; Zahra & Pearce, 1989). Recently,

an emerging trend has begun to explore active board participation

in the strategy process and how boards could engage more with

Received: 2 December 2016 Revised: 13 April 2018 Accepted: 15 April 2018

DOI: 10.1111/corg.12241

414 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Corp Govern Int Rev. 2018;26:414–428.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/corg