Bakgrund: Kvinnors väg till toppositioner inom näringslivet kantas av fler hinder än deras manliga motsvarigheter. En anledning kan vara de antaganden som finns kring kvinnors riskundvikande. Liknande antaganden finns även när det kommer till ålder och ämbetstid i beslutsfattande positioner. Det strategiska risktagandet är ett resultat av det strategiska beslutsfattande styrelser och ledningsgrupper utför, varpå intresse finns i att se om samband råder mellan variablerna eller om antagandena är felaktiga. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att få ökad förståelse för relationen mellan ledningsgruppens och styrelsens sammansättning och bolags strategiska risktagande. Metod: Det är en kvantitativ metod som appliceras på studien med en deduktiv ansats. Teorierna som behandlas är Prospect theory, Social identity approach och Upper echelons. Datainsamlingen utgår från nyckeltal från respektive bolags årsredovisningar och Infotorg Företag. Resultat: Alla hypoteser förkastas och slutsatsen blir därför att kvinnor, ålder och styrelsens respektive ledningsgruppens ämbetstid inte har något specifikt inflytande på det strategiskt risktagande då det inte hittades några samband för detta. / Background: Women's path to top positions in organisations is lined with more obstacles than their male counterparts. One reason may be the assumptions that exist about women's risk avoidance. Similar assumptions also exist when it comes to age and tenure in decision-making positions. The strategic risk-taking is a result of the strategic decision-making boards and top management teams carry out, whereupon there is interest in seeing if there is a connection between the variables or if the assumptions are false. Purpose: The study aims to gain an increased understanding of the relationship between the composition of the board of directors and the top management team, and companies' strategic risk-taking. Method: It is a quantitative method that is applied to the study with a deductive approach. The theories covered are Prospect theory, Social identity approach and Upper echelons. The data collection is based on key figures from each company's annual reports and Infotorg Företag. Conclusion: All hypotheses are rejected and the conclusion is therefore that women, age and the term of office of the board and management team have no specific influence on the strategic risk-taking as no connection was found for this.

The presented work aims to map the trends in the development and professionalization of foundations on the background of the civil society that was formed in the Czech Republic after 1989. It addresses the importance of endowment and appreciation of foundation assets in the long-term perspective and describes the circumstances that led to the creation of the Foundation Investment Fund (NIF). It also tries to follow the legislative and economic conditions for the development of the Czech endowment sector. In this sense the paper aims to bring some contribution to the civil society studies. Through a case study on The Committee of Good Will - The Olga Havel Foundation the thesis deals with the causes, effects and changes of the foundation's professionalization process. The research uses the means of internal and external document analysis, interviews with the foundation representatives and the method of participating observation. The effects of the professionalization process have manifested in personnel management changes (eg. recruitment of paid employees, hiring external professionals), project management changes and overall change in the scope of the foundation's activities. The foundation also took necessary steps towards better appreciation of its assets, proper care of its existing donors and...

This cumulative dissertation covers four papers on the management and governance of family firms. The first paper provides a systematic review of the literature on family-related determinants of the board of directors’ tasks, composition and processes in family firms. The review clusters and synthesizes the literature into six major determinants, details the methods used, and provides recommendations for future research in the field. The second paper develops a contingency approach to board task needs of family firms. The paper identifies five contingency factors and demonstrates how board task needs typically evolve over the ownership stages of family businesses. The third paper constitutes a qualitative empirical study on the role of board control in controlling owner family businesses. Based on a multiple case study approach, the study shows that controlling owners frequently use board control as a self-governing mechanism to mitigate self-control problems. Additionally, the study provides insights on favorable board processes and board composition in the controlling owner setting. Overall, the dissertation underlines the importance of factoring in the influence of family firm heterogeneity on the board of directors. The fourth paper concludes the dissertation with a teaching case study on a small family firm that is exposed to the threat of a disruptive innovation in its industry.:1 Introduction 1.1 Research Objective 1.2 Summary of the Research Papers 1.3 References 2 Determinants of Boards in Family Firms: A Systematic Literature Review 2.1 Abstract 2.2 Introduction 2.3 Boards of Directors in Family Firms 2.4 Research Method 2.5 Findings on Family-Related Determinants 2.6 Synthesis of Results 2.7 Future Research 2.8 Conclusion 2.9 Appendix 2.10 References 3 The Board of Directors in Family Firms: One Size Fits Forever? 3.1 Abstract 3.2 Introduction 3.3 Board Tasks in Family Firms 3.4 Development of a Conceptual Model 3.5 Limitations of the Model 3.6 Conclusion 3.7 References 4 Self-Control Through Board Control: Formalized Governance in Controlling Owner Family Businesses 4.1 Abstract 4.2 Introduction 4.3 Theoretical Foundations 4.4 Research Method 4.5 Findings 4.6 Discussion 4.7 Conclusion 4.8 References 5 Teaching Case Study ATB: Digital Disruption in the Manufacturing Industry 5.1 Abstract 5.2 Case Manuscript 5.3 Teaching Note 5.4 References 6 Conclusion 6.1 Contribution of the Dissertation 6.2 Limitations and Avenues for Future Research 6.3 References

Selon la théorie des parties prenantes, la Responsabilité Sociétal de l’Entreprise (RSE) est la réponse donnée par les entreprises à la pression croissantes des employées, actionnaires, communautés locales, ONG environnementales ou régulateurs afin de prendre en compte les impacts environnementaux et sociaux de leurs activités. L’enjeu n’est pas une simple compensation des externalités négatives mais une transformation des entreprises pour permettre une croissance durable. Ainsi, la RSE pousse les entreprises à être proactive et à dépasser les attentes règlementaires. Cependant, comment réussir à concilier des objectifs si différents voire opposés ? Alors que de plus en plus d’entreprises intègrent la RSE au cœur de leurs stratégies, les processus de gouvernance semblent être le chainon manquant pour réunir performance économique, sociale et environnementale. Cette thèse présente des arguments empiriques et théoriques de l’impact de la gouvernance à son plus haut niveau, du conseil d’administration au Directeur Général (DG). Après un chapitre d’introduction, le chapitre 2 analyse le lien entre la composition des conseils d’administrations et l’intégration de la RSE dans la stratégie des entreprises. Il s’appuie sur une loi sur la représentation des femmes dans les conseils d’administrations. Adopté en France en 2011, cette loi a entrainé la nomination de nouveaux administrateurs, majoritairement des femmes plus jeunes que leurs prédécesseurs. Pour autant, ce chapitre montre que l’augmentation de la diversité au sein des conseils n’est pas corrélée à variation de la performance financière et extra-financière. Ce chapitre repose sur l’étude des entreprises du SBF 120 de 2009 à 2015. Cependant, si les caractéristiques des administrateurs sont impliquées dans les processus de décisions, la mise en place des stratégies et le management de l’entreprise est confié au soin du DG. Grâce à un système de rémunération avec part variable, le conseil d’administrations s’applique à aligner les intérêts du DG avec les siens. Le chapitre 3 étudie l’efficacité des rémunérations variables basées sur des critères environnementaux ou sociétaux. Il montre que l’impact de ces « Bonus RSE » dépend du modèle de gouvernance de l’entreprise. Chez les entreprises possédant une gouvernance de type actionnarial, les « Bonus RSE » semble n’avoir qu’un impact négatif sur la performance financière. En revanche, pour les entreprises du type partenarial, ces bonus permettent efficacement l’amélioration des performances extra-financières sans diminuer la performance financière. Cette étude empirique se base sur un panel mondial de 3500 entreprises sur la période 2006-2015. Le chapitre 4 propose un modèle théorique permettant d’analyser l’impact de la nature intrinsèque ou extrinsèque des motivations. Basé sur le modèle principal-agent développé par Che et Yoo (2001), ce chapitre analyse différentes incitations pour une entreprise composée de deux agents travaillant sur une tâche « RSE ». Trois scénarios sont étudiés : les deux agents reçoivent une compensation financière, les deux agents sont motivés intrinsèquement, un agent est motivé intrinsèquement et l’autre financièrement. Le modèle montre que le scénario optimal pour le principal dépend du niveau de motivation intrinsèque mais également de l’interdépendance entre les décisions des deux agents. Dans le cas particulier de la rémunération des directeurs d’entreprises, les données empiriques montrent qu’inclure des critères RSE dans la rémunération est plus adapté aux entreprises avec une forte interdépendance décisionnelle. La conclusion retrace le lien qui unit gouvernance et RSE à plusieurs niveaux, et discute de l’implication des réseaux et effets de mimétisme entre entreprise. / According to the stakeholders’ theory, Corporate Social Responsibly is the firm’s response to increasing pressure from employees, shareholders, communities, environmental NGOs or regulators to consider the social and environmental consequences of their business activity. What is at stake, is not only a compensation of negative externalities but the adaptation and the participation of firms to a sustainable growth. In that sense, CSR is not just about being efficient but being the best and push firms to be proactive and go beyond legal requirements. But how manage objectives so various and even opposite? While firms start to integrate CSR into their global business strategy, at the top of the decision-making process, corporate governance appears to be the missing link to join economic, environmental and social objectives. This dissertation provides empirical and theoretical evidences of the determining factors involved at the high level of firms’ governance, from the board of directors to the CEO. After an introduction chapter, chapter 2 investigates the link between board composition and integrated CSR strategies. Adopted in 2011, the law targets listed firms and brought about the entrance of new directors, more likely to be women and younger than prior directors. However, we do not find evidence that this diversity is correlated to financial or extra-financial performance. For this chapter, we use a panel composed of French listed companies (SBF120 index) over the 2009-2015 period. If director’s characteristics are involved at the top of the decision making-process, the execution of the strategy and management of the firm is delegated to the CEO. Using variable pay, compensation part determined by performance objectives, the board aligns the CEO’s interests with his own interests. Chapter 3 shows evidence of the effectiveness of CSR based compensation part, labelled under the term “CSR contracting”. We show that the impact of such compensation depends on the governance structure. For firms who focus on shareholder, CSR contracting is more likely to have a negative impact on financial performance and no impact on extra-financial performance. On the contrary, for firms with a stakeholder model of governance, we show that CSR contracting is effective and have a positive impact on the environmental and social performance without impacting the economic results. This empirical work is conducted on a worldwide dataset with 3500 firms over the 2006-2015 period. Chapter 4 provides a theoretical framework to understand the role of governance factor on the efficiency of incentives. We develop a model based on Che et Yoo (2001) model to study the influence of compensation among a team of two managers who have to work on a CSR task. We determine the optimal compensation between three compensation mixes: both agents receive monetary compensations, both agents receive external rewards from their environment, one agent receives monetary compensation and the other receives an external reward. We show that the choice of the optimal compensation scheme depends on the environment outside the firm, i.e. the level of the exogenous reward, and the environment inside the firm through the level of the interdependence between the managers' decisions which corresponds to the capacity of the firm to create cooperation between the agents. Then, using evidence from executive compensation, we apply this model to the relationship between the CEO and the board of directors and find that the adoption of monetary incentives for CSR tasks is more suitable for firms with a high decisional interdependence than for firms with a lower interdependence. In conclusion, from directors’ characteristics to the overall governance organisation, we retrace the link between corporate governance and CSR integrated strategies; a link who could go beyond firm frontiers and include industry ties and peer effects.

Bakgrund: Trots framsteg inom jämställdhetsområdet finns det fortfarande en tydlig obalans när det gäller könsfördelningen i styrelserummet. Genom att adressera och belysa denna obalans samt presentera potentiella fördelar med detta kan en mer jämställd representation uppnås. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva de utmaningar och möjligheter som manliga styrelseledamöter upplever i fråga om jämställdhet i bolagsstyrelser, samt deras bidrag för att främja en jämnare könsfördelning. Metod: Studien antar en abduktiv ansatsmetod, genom att tolka och analysera de manliga styrelseledamöternas upplevelser utifrån befintlig teori och samtidigt vara öppen för nya insikter, bidrar studien till en fördjupad förståelse av fenomenet. Vid insamling av empiri har en kvalitativ fallstudie med åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. För att beskriva informanternas upplevelser av den sociala kontexten genomfördes en tematisk analys varav tre huvudteman identifierades: Perspektiv och kompetens, Utmaningar och möjligheter i Jönköpings län, strategier för jämställdhet. De tre huvudtemana analyserades och kopplades sedan till relevant teori. Slutsats: Studiens resultat frambringar utmaningar och möjligheter i arbetet att främja en jämnare könsfördelning i styrelserna. Faktorer som påverkar och samspelar är befintliga ägande-och maktstrukturer, balans mellan karriär-och familjeliv, könsskillnader i risktagande och självförtroende samt brist på kvinnor i ledande positioner. Styrelseledamöterna kan påverka detta genom att ifrågasätta och utmana rådande normer samt belysa de fördelar som kommer av en jämställd styrelse. / Background: Despite progress in the field of gender equality, there is still a clear imbalance in the gender balance in boardrooms. By addressing and highlighting this imbalance and presenting potential benefits, more equal representation can be achieved. Purpose: The aim of the study is to describe the challenges and opportunities experienced by male directors in terms of gender equality in corporate boards, as well as their contribution to promoting gender balance. Method: The study adopts an abductive approach, by interpreting and analyzing the male board members' experiences based on existing theory and at the same time being open to new insights, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. For the collection of empirical data, a qualitative case study with eight semi-structured interviews has been conducted. To describe the informants' experiences of the social context, a thematic analysis was carried out and three main themes were identified: Perspectives and competence, challenges and opportunities in Jönköping County, strategies for gender equality. The three main themes were then analyzed and linked to relevant theory. Conclusion: The results of the study highlight challenges and opportunities in promoting gender balance on boards. Factors that influence and interact are existing ownership and power structures, work-life balance, gender differences in risk-taking and self-confidence, and lack of women in leadership positions. Board members can influence this by questioning and challenging prevailing norms and highlighting the benefits of a gender-equal board.

Bakgrund; Mångfald har under en lång tid varit ett högaktuellt begrepp inom näringslivet. Senaste åren har mångfalden i näringslivet fått mer uppmärksamhet, inte minst i bolagsstyrelser. En växande global marknad har lett till att mångfalden uppmärksammas alltmer. Förespråkarna för mångfald menar att det bidrar till bättre bolagsprestationer medan kritikerna menar att mångfald kan leda till försämrad kommunikation och försämrad konkurrensförmåga. Idag är Sverige ett heterogent land, kan heterogeniteten återfinnas i svenska styrelser och kan olika ägartyper förklara mångfalden i styrelsen.  Syfte; Uppsatsens syfte är att förklara om och i så fall hur olika ägartyper kan påverkamångfalden i bolagsstyrelser på den svenska börsmarknaden. Metod; Uppsatsen har en deduktiv forskningsansats, där en modell är grunden som förklarar hur mångfalden utgår ifrån agentteorin, resursberoendeteorin, upper echelon teorin, legitimitetsteorin och gruppkonfliktteorin. Kvantitativa forskningsmetoden bygger på svenskstyrelse-, ägar- och finansiell data från 2021.  Slutsatser; Uppsatsen kan konstatera att ägartyper inte kan förklara mångfalden i styrelsen. Uppsatsen ser istället homosocial reproduktion och upper echelon teorin som en möjlig förklaring till att styrelser ser ut som de gör. Styrelser i Sverige är homogena och det krävs stora förändringar för att de skall spegla svenska samhället på bättre sätt. / Bakground; Diversity has for a long time been a topic of discussion. In recent years, diversity in the business community has received more attention, not least in company boards. A growing global market has led to increasing attention to diversity. Proponents of diversity believe that it contributes to better corporate performance, while critics believe that diversity can lead to impaired communication and impaired competitiveness. Today, Sweden is a heterogeneous country, the question is if heterogeneity can be found in Swedish boards and if different types of ownership can explain the diversity of the board. Purpose; The purpose of the thesis is to explain if and how different types of owners can explain the diversity of board of directors in the Swedish stock market. Method; The thesis has a deductive research approach, where a theoretical model is the basis that explains how diversity is based on agent theory, resource dependency theory, upper echelon theory, legitimacy theory and group conflict theory. The quantitative research method is based on Swedish board-, ownership- and financial data from 2021. Conclusion; The thesis can state that ownership types can not explain the diversity of the board. The thesis instead sees homosocial reproduction and the upper echelon theory as a possible recruitment to make boards look the way they do. Boards in Sweden are homogeneous and major changes are required for them to reflect Swedish society in a better way.

Räkenskapsåret 2017 blev hållbarhetsrapporteringen för större bolag lagstadgad i Sverige men som fenomen saknas standardiserade definitioner och gemensamma globalaramverk. Idag existerar det endast riktlinjer och rekommendationer förhållbarhetsrapporteringen som till exempel skapats av Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Det har skapat plats för tolkningsutrymme vid upprättandet av hållbarhetsrapporter som resulterat i varierad och bristande kvalitet, vilket betraktas som ett stort problem på vägen mot en bättre och mer hållbar värld. Studien ämnar därför att förklara om kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och oberoende styrelseledamöter kan vara lösningen för att upprätta och bibehålla hållbarhetsrapporter av hög kvalitet.  Metoden som har använts är en tvärsnittsstudie, med deduktiv ansats som undersöks genom ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt. Hypoteserna bygger på GRI-standarder i kombination med upper echelon teori, social identitetsteori, tokenism, kritisk massa och agentteorin. Resultaten leder fram till accepterande av hypotes H1, H1a, H1b, H1c. och H2. Studien visar således samband för andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och kvalitet på hållbarhetsrapporter. Hypotes H3 förkastas, inget signifikant samband går att finna mellan andel oberoende styrelseledamöter och kvalitet på hållbarhetsrapporter. / In the financial year 2017, sustainability reporting became statutory in Sweden but as a phenomenon there is a lack of standardized definitions and common global frameworks.Today, there are only guidelines and recommendations for sustainability reporting, created bythe Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This fact has created room for interpretation that has resulted in varied quality in the sustainability reports, which is considered a major problem on the road to a better and more sustainable world. Therefore, the study intends to investigate whether female board members and independent board members can be the solution for preparing and maintaining high-quality sustainability reports. The method that has been used is a cross-sectional study, with a deductive approachthat is examined through a quantitative approach. The hypotheses are based on the GRI-standards in combination with upper echelon theory, social identity theory, tokenism, critical mass and agency theory. The results lead to acceptance of hypothesis H1, H1a, H1b, H1c.and H2. The study finds a relation between the proportion of female board members and the quality of sustainabilityreporting. Hypothesis H3 is rejected, because no relation can be found when there is a higherproportion of independent board members.

Corporate Governance (CG) nowadays is on the agenda of most developed and developing countries, including Jordan, and is receiving considerable attention in the business world as well as in the area of academic research, which is an indication of its importance for business development and society as a whole. The knowledge base about CG in developing countries appears to be limited, but it is growing in size and importance. This study therefore aims to investigate current CG practices and barriers to the development of good CG practices in firms. In order to accomplish the research objectives, a mixed research methodology was adopted. The findings of the study contribute to knowledge by providing empirical data to test and extend the theory of CG. The results suggest that most big and old firms are applying best practice of good CG. Regarding factors inhibiting the practice of effective CG, the results indicate that weakness of the legal environment for firms and lack of knowledge of BODs about CG principles are the most important factors. The empirical results find that constitution, compliance and conscience will affect firm’s performance positively. Separation between the position of CEO and Chairman, the existence of independent NEDs, the use of board subcommittees and a strong disclosure regime also help firms to improve performance. On the basis of the empirical results, the study recommends that the government needs to reform the relevant legislation. These suggestions may strengthen the internal governance of firms, thereby increasing performance and maximise shareholders’ wealth.

Background: Prior literature on diversity within BODs and TMTs is predominantly situated within thecontext of conventional organizations. However, sports clubs differ somewhat fromconventional organizations due to the inclusion of an additional performance metric toconsider, sports performance, which stands as their foremost priority. As sports clubsoperate under a heightened-paced landscape with far more external pressure, the necessityto extend governance research into this rather new area of investigation is of interest. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the impact of BOD and TMT diversity on sportsclubs’ sports and financial performance and how media influence this relationship. Method: This thesis employs a deductive approach, utilizing a quantitative method, to investigatethe research objectives. The analysis is based on 144 observations from 24 distinct Swedishsports clubs. Depending on the performance metrics being measured, the data is examinedusing either multiple linear regression or ordinal regression. Conclusion: The study supports three of its eight hypotheses, namely that BOD diversity has a positiverelationship with sports performance and that media moderate the relationship betweenTMT diversity, partially BOD diversity and financial performance.

Background: It has become increasingly important for all corporations to make environmentally friendly decisions and consider environmental CSR. Previous studies have shown that effective corporate governance and diversity of BoDs and TMTs can affect sustainability reporting positively. However, prior literature has been underrepresented regarding SMEs. It is currently voluntary for these types of firms to report on sustainability, but new requirements are underway. Additionally, family-owned firms differ in the context of environmental CSR reporting due to the interests of the family, and that these types of firms tend to not consider the diversity as much as non-family-owned firms.    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the diversity of BoDs and TMTs in Swedish stock-listed SMEs impacts environmental CSR reporting. Additionally, how family firms moderate this relationship.     Methodology: This study adopts a positivistic view, follows the deductive approach, and uses a quantitative methodology. The collected data was gathered through databases, annual reports, and other sources to get information about the diversity aspects and sustainability reporting. This was analyzed by using the Spearman correlation matrix and multiple linear regressions.    Findings: The findings of this study only partially support the relationship between the diversity of BoDs and environmental CSR reporting. There was no support regarding the relationship between the diversity of TMTs and environmental CSR reporting. Family firms as a moderating factor to this, could also not be supported.