Abstract:
This research examines international
joint Venture (IJV) directors' contribution to
board effectiveness, utilising a role theoretical framework. The study was prompted
by a view that academic debate was limited in its understanding of how directors of
IJV boards contribute to board effectiveness whilst balancing the multiplicity of
different
partners agendas. I particular, the literature review reveals the tendency of
the studies of the IJV board director role to describe behaviours that make up a role,
at the
expense of the actual processes entailed in full filling the role. I addition, the
corporate governance (CG) studies have made large inferences from inputs such as
board
composition to outputs such as board effectiveness, with no direct evidence
of the
processes that presumably link the inputs to the outputs.
Based on the
findings from a qualitative exploratory case study of thirteen board
directors from three Serbian-foreign joint Ventures based in Serbia, the research
proposes _a model that captures the contribution to board effectiveness from a
individual IJV board directors
perspective. By revealing the actual processes that
produce and are affected by IJV board director role outcomes, the study offers a
explanation of IJV board director behaviour and opens what has been described as the
black box of CG research.
The research holds direct
implications for role theory, and the IJV and CG literatures.
It enhances
understanding of IJV board director role, broadens the scope and
relevance of role
theory beyond the domestic company, extends the study of board
director role in the CG literature to IJVs, and contributes to the studies of board
dynamics and IJV boards which have been largely under-researched. The research
also
provides practitioners with a better understanding of the issues and nuances
associated with
governing of IJVs, as well as knowledge of IJV board director
behaviour within the Serbian CG system.
