Brunel University Brunel Business School PhD Theses
Abstract
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis documents a study of the factors associated with Boards of Directors’ strategic
decisions. The premise upon which such a research initiative is founded concerns the
increased interest of academics and business practitioners in Board of Directors in the U.K
and in U.S in part arising from recent financial scandals made in major public companies.
Despite this increased attention to Board of Directors, it is acknowledged that Boards of
Directors is one of the most under-researched management topics and its research is
limited in scope and scale.
An extensive review of the literature revealed that a useful contribution to knowledge
could be derived from the investigation of the factors that influence Boards’ strategic
decisions in quoted organisations. The research objectives is then to investigate the
strategic decisions Boards of Directors and the organisation make by examining the
environmental factors associated with the Board, the characteristics of the Board such as
age, education, experience, composition, the Boards’ strategic choices in areas such as
innovation, strategic decisions and to examine the influence the Boards have on
performance. Despite the significant research interest in this topic, knowledge is still
incomplete.
This thesis makes a significant contribution to the strategic management literature by
developing an integrative framework which examines strategic decisions from both content
and process perspectives. The model developed, identifies the influence on strategic
decisions, the environment, the characteristics of the Boards of Directors and its
involvement has as influence on strategic decisions. The empirical study is carried out in a
new cultural context; Greece and more specifically to listed firms on the Athens Stock
Exchange.
A theoretical model has been created and following a deductive approach, primary data
through questionnaires was collected from 105 Greek listed organisations. Data was
analysed according to their descriptive properties and underlying correlation structure.
Several principal components were derived from these analyses which were used in
hypothesis testing. Subsequently, a multiple regression and GLM analyses were conducted
in order to examine the interrelationships between the factors associated with Boards’
strategic decisions. The research findings are discussed and considered in light of current
knowledge in the area. A number of conclusions are made from the findings. Furthermore,
implications for academics and business practitioners are drawn that indicate the relevance
and applicability of this research to corporate governance practices. Limitations of the
research and possible future research are set out.
The thesis is organised into seven chapters which are entitled in the following order:
literature review of Boards of Directors and development of theoretical framework;
empirical approach and conceptualisation of the factors associated with boards’ strategic
decisions; descriptive research findings; principal component analysis and construction of
scale indices; multiple regression and GLM analyses; and, conclusions and implications of
the study
