In 2009, the Republic of Ireland (ROI) revised its Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. Despite a review of the literature revealing a considerable body of work on codes of practice, few studies were observed to systematically analyse the impact of codes and none to do so in a public sector context. Furthermore, the literature indicated that although the significance of boards was generally accepted, agreement as to the attributes that determine their effectiveness was lacking. This issue was adjudged to be compounded in the ROI context, where public sector agentification was revealed to be particularly unique. This thesis explores whether a series of variables, identified in the public sector literature as determinants of board effectiveness, are significant in the ROI Non-Commercial Semi State Bodies (NCSSB) context. The research employed a board governance questionnaire conducted amongst a purposeful sample of NCSSBs. The empirical analysis indicates mixed findings: where no relationships between board member demographics and board effectiveness are identified while, some evidence in support of associations between certain board practice and board structure variables are revealed. Relative to the Code of Practice implementation indicators, the results suggest significant relationships between board effectiveness and board size and relationship with parent department, while no association was observed with the method of board member appointment. The key findings of the descriptive analyses suggest that the sector’s board members emerge from a select coterie of Irish society and that training and orientation uptake is at odds with participants reported governance awareness levels. This study contributes to our understanding of public sector board effectiveness as it treats of board effectiveness from nuanced and context sensitive perspectives. It is anticipated that the results of this study will stimulate future research, which may focus on, in particular, the anomalies revealed by this study’s findings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:706992 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Kelleher, Deirdre |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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