MSc SIM student Nouredyn el Sawy wins EUMEDION Thesis Prize

Nouredyn el Sawy (MSc BA SIM) has won the Eumedion Thesis prize of 2014, worth 2,500 euros for his thesis on the effects of diversity in the composition of top management teams in the pharmaceutical sector. His  thesis has the title: “Learning geology before the earthquake: The influence of fault lines in boards of directors on post-M&A firm value and performance.”

Under supervision of Dr. Killian McCarthy, he constructed and analysed a large dataset with demographic data (gender, age, title and experience) of all board members of 55 pharmaceutical firms active in the period 2006-2014, and linked it with data on the 225 acquisitions announced by these firms. The results show counterintuitive findings about how top management team composition affects merger & acquisition performance: The more diverse such teams are, in terms of age, gender as well as experience, the better their M&As do.

Eumedion

Eumedion is a representative of the interests of institutional investors in the field of corporate governance in the Netherlands. The Eumedion Thesis prize is a yearly prize and consists of €2500. This year’s theme related to the impact of engaged share-ownership.