Much More Than CEO Duality: a Behavioural Perspective on Board Leadership

Abstract

In the slipstream of several large-scale corporate scandals, the board of directors has gained a pivotal position in the corporate governance debate. However, due to an overreliance on particular methodological (i.e., input-output studies) and theoretical (i.e., agency theory) research fortresses in past board research, academic knowledge concerning the actual functioning of this important governance mechanism remains fairly limited. This theoretical paper focuses at board leadership, arguably one of the research areas plagued most by these predominant approaches in previous studies. Specifically, its aim is to provide guidance and inspiration to researchers who aspire to go beyond traditional board leadership research, which has turned a blind eye on actual leadership dynamics and has solely focused on structural leadership characteristics, through the examination of leadership processes and behaviours inside the board team. In this light, we set out to assess the relevance of traditional and more specific team-related leadership theories that have amassed in organizational behaviour literature and discuss their implications for board leadership. In addition, a number of methodological approaches are put forward which are likely to prove particularly fruitful in assessing the actual leadership dynamics occurring within corporate boards and, therefore, in increasing our understanding of their functioning.