The recent financial crisis has led to a loss of trust in the quality of corporate governance worldwide. Among other reforms, the European Commission (EC) currently intends to regulate board diversity (at first gender diversity) by quota as companies did not voluntarily meet the EC's expectations on this issue so far. Considering the political debate it often becomes obvious that the debate on board diversity is primarily discussed from a moral perspective and on the basis of standard economic arguments or stereotypes ignoring the majority of empirical findings in this field. Focusing on this gap we identify very mixed results on the link between different attributes for board diversity and economic outcomes. Furthermore, these empirical findings mainly do not consider important aspects of work psychology and organizational behavior in the black box/closed circle of corporate boardrooms and often only focus on single attributes for board diversity and their direct impact on economic outcomes. Thus, without having a deeper understanding of the processes and dynamics within corporate boardrooms, we do not think this is the right time to regulate board diversity. Additionally, we think such a measure disproportionately intervenes in companies' authority to staff their boards and neglects companies' specific (economic) situation.

This book explores diversity in boardrooms to highlight the link between the heterogeneous dimensions of board diversity and their impact on the firms. The book provides a brief definition of corporate governance and focuses on the role and functions of the board of directors. The work contributes to the literature enriching the empirical findings about board diversity. After a deep review of the literature within several theoretical frameworks, such as agency, stakeholder, stewardship, resource dependence, and the institutional theory, the focus moves on the impact on financial performance. The board diversity effects are tested through an empirical analysis conducted on a sample of European listed companies, performing both a single and a joint diversity index analysis. Practitioners and academics will find this book particularly timely and useful as it combines both a review of the literature and robust empirical investigation. It will be an excellent reading for academics and practitioners interested in firm performance, corporate governance and stakeholder theory.

This edited collection provides a structured and in-depth analysis of the current use of quota strategies for resolving the pressing issue of gender inequality, and the lack of female representation on corporate boards. Filling the gap in existing literature on this topic, the two volumes of Gender Diversity in the Boardroom offers systematic overviews of current debates surrounding the optimisation of gender diversity, and the suggested pathways for progress. Focusing on sixteen European countries, the skilled contributors explore the current situation in relation to women on boards debates and approaches taken. They include detailed reflections from critical stakeholders, such as politicians, practitioners and policy-makers. Volume 1 focuses on eight European countries having adopted quotas and is a promising and highly valuable resource for academics, practitioners, policy makers and anyone interested in gender diversity because it examines and critiques the current corporate governance system and national strategies for increasing the share of women not only on boards, but within companies beyond the boardroom.

This study explores whether there is a demonstrable connection between gender diversity and organizational financial performance.

This volume, the first to focus exclusively on women serving on corporate boards of directors, provides the latest thinking and research findings on this increasingly important corporate governance issue. It includes censuses of women directors in a number of countries, identifies reasons for their limited numbers, indicates why appointing qualified women to boards offers competitive advantages, and suggests practical ways corporations can attract, recruit and appoint more women board members. Researchers interested in gender and corporate governance issues, companies interested in increasing their numbers of women board members, and women and men serving or hoping to serve on corporate boards will find this book of interest.

""Art Economists Basically Immoral?" and Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion is a collection of Heyne's essays focused on an issue that preoccupied him throughout his life and which concerns many free-market skeptics - namely, how to reconcile the apparent selfishness of a free-market economy with ethical behavior." "Written with the nonexpert in mind, and in a highly engaging style, these essays will interest students of economics, professional economists with an interest in ethical and theological topics, and Christians who seek to explore economic issues."--BOOK JACKET.

This book integrates and assesses the vast and rapidly growing literature on strategic leadership, which is the study of top executives and their effects on organizations. The basic premise is that in order to understand why organizations do the things they do, or perform the way they do, we need to deeply comprehend the people at the top-- their experiences, abilities, values, social connections, aspirations, and other human features. The actions--or inactions--of a relatively small number of key people at the apex of an organization can dramatically affect organizational outcomes. The scope of strategic leadership includes individual executives, especially chief executive officers (CEOs), groups of executives (top management teams, or TMTs); and governing bodies (particularly boards of directors). Accordingly, the book addresses an array of topics regarding CEOs (e.g., values, personality, motives, demography, succession, and compensation); TMTs (including composition, processes, and dynamics); and boards of directors (why boards look and behave the way they do, and the consequences of board profiles and behaviors). Strategic Leadership synthesizes what is known about strategic leadership and indicates new research directions. The book is meant primarily for scholars who strive to assess and understand the phenomena of strategic leadership. It offers a considerable foundation on which professionals involved in executive search, compensation, appraisal and staffing, as well as board members who evaluate executive performance and potential, might build their tools and perspectives.

More Women on Boards: An International Perspective is the seventh volume in the Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice book series. The purpose of this volume is to explore the complexity of issues related to increasing the number of women on boards of directors around the world: how these issues have been understood; how they have been more and less successfully addressed in different countries and industries; and how they are similar, and yet different, as a results of cultural and legal differences. In the Introduction and 18 chapters included in this book, 42 researchers, activists, and practitioners who were raised or work today in at least 17 countries on 6 continents seek to answer the questions: “Why have women on boards?” “Why is adding women to boards so challenging?” “What actions increase the number of women on boards?” and “What can we learn from situations where there are women board members?” In seeking to answer these questions, the authors summarize previously existing research and share the results of their own recent qualitative and quantitative research studies conducted in many different countries. Both “fix the woman” and “fix the society” challenges and solutions are explored. Stories of women who have successfully joined and, in many cases, led boards of directors are shared. It is clear to us, and we believe will be clear to those who read this book, that there is no single program that will lead to gender equality on boards; however we believe that the authors in this volume provide a rich variety of research and well supported suggestions for addressing the challenges. When local cultures are considered and multiple suggestions implemented as appropriate, we are confident we will, together, increase the number of women on boards throughout the world.