Business Elite Project

In order to understand the (dis)similarities between corporate boards, we study the different career pathways that lead to the Boards. In general, we study the contexts in which careers of top managers develop in different countries in order to understand how people move into the economic power or business elites. Three projects are relevant at the moment:

 

Project 1: Corporate Governance Systems and Board Composition in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK

Janine Elbertsen and Kees van Veen focussed on the accessibility of supervisory and executive Boards for foreign top managers within the Germany, the Netherlands en the United Kingdom. Important determinants that have been considered are the differences in Corporate Governance Codes and how they determine the differences in recruitment practices of new managers. Different codes and their related recruitment practices turned out to be highly relevant for understanding the differences between the three countries. The project won the MSc Thesis price 2005-2006 of the Faculty of Management and Organization of the University of Groningen. 

• Janine Elbertsen, The one and two tier board structure related to its nationality mix?, MSc Thesis, International Business and Management, Faculty of Management and Organization, University of Groningen, Winner of the Msc Thesis Price 2005-2006.
• Kees van Veen en Janine Elbertsen, (----) Governance Regimes and nationality diversity in corporate boards: a comparative study of Germany, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom, Corporate Governance: an international journal, under review, 2^nd revise and resubmit..

Project 2: Corporate Governance systems and board composition in 15 European Countries

Floris de Haan and Kees van Veen extended the project of Janine Elbertsen to boards in 15 European countries. 

• Floris de Haan, (2007) Board internationalization explained from a corporate governance perspective: A comparative study of the internationalization of executive and supervisory boards in Western Europe, MSc Thesis, International Business and Management, Faculty of Management and Organization, University of Groningen.
  

Project 3: M&A and nationality diversity in boards

Wesley Kaufman and Kees van Veen focus on the role of mergers and acquisitions on differences in nationality diversity in European executive boards.

• Wesley Kaufman (2007) Cross-border M & A?s and Board Nationality Diversity , MSc Thesis, International Business and Management, Faculty of Management and Organization, University of Groningen.
  

Project 4: Nationality diversity and corporate ownership.

Joost Rusius and Kees van Veen focus on the effect of differences in ownership on the composition of the boards of MNCs in 15 European countries