Self or other: Directors’ attitudes towards policy initiatives for external board evaluation

Recurrent crises in corporate governance have board practice and created policy pressure to assess the effectiveness of boards. Since the 1990s boards have faced calls to undertake regular, formal evaluation. Since 2010, the UK Corporate Governance Code has urged large corporations to engage outside parties to conduct them at least every three years, a move that other jurisdictions have copied. Despite this policy importance, little research has been conducted into processes or outcomes of board evaluation. This study explores the attitudes of directors on evaluation, whether self-administered or facilitated by others. We find acceptance of the principle but reservations about the value and even honesty in questionnaire-based approaches. We find scepticism about, but also acknowledgement of, the benefits of using outside facilitators, especially for their objectivity and because their interviewing elicits insights into board dynamics. As this practice expands beyond listed companies to non-listed ones, charities, and even governance branches of government, our findings point to a need to professionalise outside facilitation

Challenges of Turkish family businesses related to effective management strategies

Interest in family businesses has recently been on the rise in Turkey. The main reason for this is that family firms dominate business life and make a big contribution to job creation and exports. However, running a family business poses intrinsic human dilemmas and unique challenges. Family dynamics tend to affect business dynamics and vice versa. Managing family relationships is an important characteristic of a family business. Managed effectively, a family business offers rewards on many fronts; if managed poorly, the business, including the family, may face many problems, leading to bankruptcy. Therefore, it is important to determine predictors of family business sustainability for the benefit of both the economy and the families owning firms

Solar Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Challenges and Opportunities of Technological Leapfrogging

For decades, Africa was generally perceived as the dumping ground for obsolete technologies. In recent years, technological leapfrogging, which is associated with the newly industrialized economies in Asia, has transpired in some key industries. In this article, we present the solar photovoltaic industry as one such industry and an integrated model of scaling up solar technologies. We identified five unique models aimed at scaling up solar energy in Africa: state-led, nongovernmental organization and other agency-led, emerging-market multinational enterprises-led, Avon, and pay-as-you-go models. Our analysis focused on four countries in particular (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya) and Africa in general. Despite the promising opportunities of this industry, a number of factors such as high up-front capital costs and limited end-user financing schemes have limited the technological process. We conclude by outlining the implications of the findings for theory and practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc