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1p. / Revised / Which is better, wooden or plastic cutting board? Recent research has confirmed the conventional belief that plastic is safer than wood for cutting meat and poultry. This article explains the reason why plastic cutting boards are better, and gives recommendations on how to keep cutting boards safe.

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This thesis investigates governance in large Scottish charities. In particular, the focus is on internal aspects of governance, predominantly the functioning of the board. The influence of business on charities is also investigated through considering the impact of individuals with business expertise on the boards of charities. Charity governance in the Scottish context has been under-research, this thesis attempts to fill this research gap. A multi-method approach was employed, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative research. The study utilised a survey in the form of a selfcompletion questionnaire, and three case studies to examine governance in Scottish charities. Social construction provides the framework of the analysis. This thesis provides an insight into the functioning of the boards of Scottish charities, in-line with previous research in other countries, governance issues are apparent. However, in relation to the impact of business expertise in charities, there is evidence that business members of charitable boards make contributions to the governance of these organisations, and charities can gain considerable value from having outside specialists on the board.

This research offers the perceptions of independent non-executive directors (INEDs) in Thailand of their roles and the way they cope with constraints such as family-concentrated ownership structures and asymmetric information problems. There has been scant prior research in this area. The researcher applied qualitative research techniques to understand what was in the interviewees’ minds. The semi-structured interview was employed because it allowed some flexibility while also providing some guidelines. The fieldwork data reveals that interviewed INEDs were aware of a board’s control role which, in theory, can be realised by nominating and remunerating top management; however, in practice they had no authority to do so due to the family-concentrated ownership of Thai firms. Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations was the actual controlling activity which they undertook. Another role perceived was a service role concerned with giving advice and counsel to management. Although the interviewees rarely got involved with planning and directing, they contributed their expertise to the board. Their service function also helped them to better fulfil a control role because an INED’s service role builds his credibility in the eyes of management. This allows them to gain access to better information about a company – a critical input of a control role. Therefore, a good relationship between executives and non-executives is an essential factor for INED’s effectiveness. i A proportion of outside directors on the board and a director’s independent background were not considered guarantees of board independence. Only an INED’s independence of mind matters. Such independence can be exercised by resigning in order to send a signal to the market and protect minority shareholders. The competencies and personal characteristics of INEDs and their motivations are other elements contributing to their effectiveness.

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Corporate governance has become an increasingly topical issue in recent years. This has been fuelled by such corporate collapses as Enron, Worldcom, Parmalat, One.Tel and HIH. The role and responsibility of the board and directors has emerged as an important issue in examining the cause of these collapses. This has created much debate on what the role of the directors is in 'directing', 'monitoring' or 'advising' a company. Research indicates that investors are prepared to a pay a premium for good governance. This raises a number of questions. What is governance? How do we determine what is good governance? What role do directors have in this? Does the company's performance improve by adopting good governance practices? There are numerous approaches to examining what makes a good board. Quantitative techniques have included the use of such measurable concepts as the number of executive and non-executive directors, directors' skill base (for example, accountancy, marketing etc) and frequency of meetings attended. Researchers have also attempted to measure board performance and effectiveness by using indicators such as share values and shareholder returns. There is a lack of qualitative research in board behaviour and effectiveness. This exploratory study adopts a qualitative approach in order to provide richer data. It uses interviews to evaluate directors' views on some aspects of corporate governance, specifically in relation to the executive and non-executive director debate. The interviews were conducted with 11 directors from a variety of organizations in the forprofit and not-for-profit sectors. Two major themes have emerged from the analysis of the interviews. Firstly, directors are traditionally considered to be responsible for maximising shareholder wealth. However, directors are now expected to broaden their responsibilities to include other stakeholders and to consider social and environmental issues in making their decisions. The findings indicate that it is now more demanding to be a director due to increased workloads arising from the regulatory and legal requirements. This has also impacted on director and board evaluations, multiple directorships and directors remuneration levels. The second major theme that emerged from this study is that directors' personal experiences did not necessarily concur with governance principles and guidelines. For example, the widely recommended method of achieving 'best practice' by having a majority of non-executive directors on a board is considered too simplistic. Further studies are required on the behavioural and personality traits, technical skills of the directors, board structure, composition and type of organization which make the best contribution to achieving boardroom effectiveness.

Graduation date: 1997

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between selected characteristics of school board members and public school systems in Indiana and the educational progressivism of board members as measured by the attitudinal responses of board members to statements on an instrument pertaining to controversial educational practices and issues.A major theoretical perspective adopted in the study involved the notion that attitudes of school board members may be differentiated by structural and contextual characteristics related to the school systems of board members in addition to, or rather than by, background characteristics of board members.Data pertaining to the background characteristics and attitudes of board members were obtained from a two-section instrument. Section I contained items designed to elicit information pertaining to the background characteristics of board members, while Section II contained a modified version of Education Scale VII that was employed for assessing progressivist attitudes.Stratified random sampling techniques, based upon the student enrollment of Indiana school systems, were used to select a sample of 524 school board members. The 524 school board members selected for the sample were administered the two-section instrument by mail. Two mailings resulted in 302 usable instrument copies being returned.Data pertaining to the selected school system variables were obtained, except data pertaining to the variable of study council affiliation which were obtained from a doctoral dissertation, from statistical reports furnished by a Division of the Indiana Department of Public Instruction.A correlation matrix was generated from the data for analysis of the simple relationships between all combinations of the continuous independent variables and the dependent variable by pairs. The one-way analysis of variance procedure was utilized for analysis of the simple relationships between. the categorical independent variables and variables contained in the matrix.Multiple regression statistical techniques were employed for analysis of the collective contributions of the selected independent variables to the variance of the dependent variable when the variance shared by other independent variables in a set was statistically controlled. The various multiple regression computations were utilized for analysis of two null hypotheses formulated for investigation relative to the relationship between selected background and school system variables and educational progressivist attitudes. On the basis of the findings, the two null hypotheses were held as being tenable.Major conclusions, among others, derived from the findings included:1. The findings do not support the proposition, as traditionally advanced in the literature, that age related to progressivist attitudes.2. None of the six background variables included in the investigation are strong and reliable predictors of educational progressivist attitudes among Indiana school board members.3. Two of the eight school system variables included in the investigation, student enrollment and teacher training and experience index, are relatively strong indicators of educational progressivist attitudes among Indiana school board members, but only when the contributions to the variance of educational progressivist attitudes shared by the two variables and other selected school system variables are not statistically controlled.4. The attitudes Indiana school board members hold regarding practices and issues in public education are varied and complex and do not lend easily to generalization on the basis of any one single dimension related to the backgrounds or school systems of board members.

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