Beyond Busyness: Director Workload and Its Impact on Board Effectiveness
Tracks
Crystal 1
| Monday, July 1, 2024 |
| 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM |
Presenter
Assoc Prof Helen Spiropoulos
Associate Professor
University of Technology Sydney
Beyond Busyness: Director Workload and Its Impact on Board Effectiveness
Abstract
This study moves beyond the traditional emphasis on the number of external directorships as a proxy for director busyness, and introduces a novel measure that captures the actual workload associated with these directorships. This measure specifically accounts for directors' commitments to committees, among other responsibilities, within their external directorships. At the individual director level, the results consistently demonstrate that independent directors’ external workload has a favourable impact on board meeting attendance and future board appointments. At the firm level, we find that directors with high workload contribute more effectively to monitoring and advising, evidenced by a reduction in excess CEO compensation, heightened sensitivity of CEO performance to turnover decisions, and superior outcomes in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). These findings challenge the traditional view that a busy schedule detracts from a director’s effectiveness and suggests that capable directors self-select higher workload, hence supporting a free-market approach to directorships.
Biography
A/Professor Helen Spiropoulos has a portfolio of research in the areas of Sustainability Reporting, Gender diversity, Financial Reporting, Executive Compensation, Corporate Governance, and Mergers and Acquisitions.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours from UTS, for which she received the University Medal. In 2014 she completed a PhD in Accounting at UTS and received the distinguished Chancellor List Award. Her doctoral work was also recognised internationally, receiving the Best Paper Award at the JCAE Conference in 2016.
Helen's research has been published in leading journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Management Accounting Research and Journal of Corporate Finance, and has also featured in prominent media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, BOSS Magazine, ABC Radio, 2ESR, and The Conversation.
Helen has extensive leadership experience as former Deputy Associate Dean (Learning Innovation) of the UTS Business School and as the Associate Editor of Australian Journal of Management and Managerial Auditing Journal.
Chair
Sammy Ying
Senior Lecturer
The University of Newcastle
