Integrity in the Boardroom: A Case for Further Research (original) (raw)
Related papers
Integrity in Business and the Boardroom
Effective Executive, Vol. XVl No. 2, June, pp 13-19 [IUP Publications], 2013
A reader of newspapers and watcher of television news bulletins who also glances at corporate mission statements and codes of conduct must wonder what is going wrong. Financial institutions have allocated £billions to covering the costs of miss-selling claims. Across Europe traces of horse meat have been found in products labelled as beef. Scandals and allegations of fraud and bribery abound.
Giving Voice to Values in the Boardroom
2020
Professor Clark's outstanding and much-needed book, Giving Voices to Values in the Boardroom, starts from the premise that voicing one's values matters to board decision-making, and values drive behavior. To change behaviors, director voices are needed. Speaking up can be very challenging-and even costly-for directors. Beginning with the central challenge in corporate governance-director independence-Dr. Clark critiques real boardroom situations that both strengthen and undermine director independence, competencies and dynamics. Then, Dr. Clark proceeds to tackle the central role of a board: CEO succession and compensation, and linking both of these to strategic execution. Dr. Clark concludes with the risks and opportunities of digitization, which has the power not only to disrupt business models but make companies obsolete. Again, voices matter. A good board is never in denial. Based on weaving research with real board situations and interviews, Professor Clark's book is a welcome and fresh perspective on the way boards actually impact performance (or not). This book makes a signifcant contribution to the feld and should be a must-have for any director who wants to make a difference on the board on which they are a member. I highly recommend it!
The role of integrity in individual and effective corporate leadership
This paper focuses on the issues of the integrity of the individual and its importance at the corporate level in creating a culture of integrity. Individuals that have integrity build trusting relationships with others. At the corporate level it takes individuals of integrity to develop a consensus around shared values. As this consensus builds, the corporation develops a culture of integrity. A culture of integrity creates a highly valued work environment; it impacts the quality of corporate governance; and it provides a foundation for solid long-term financial performance.
A conceptual framework of integrity
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 2008
This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study in which the construction of integrity of some business leaders was explored. Data were gathered through ten in-depth interviews with six South African business leaders commended to be champions of integrity. A grounded-theory approach to the data analysis elicited five themes. These themes and their interrelatedness are discussed in this article and a conceptual framework of integrity is proposed. Integrity is conceptualised as a multifaceted and dynamic construct based on a moral foundation and inner drive that is managed by cognitive and affective processes manifesting various integrity-related behaviours.
Co-constructing integrity: A conceptual framework
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology
Orientation: The use of an integrity framework can positively influence the impact senior management has on middle management’s experience of integrity and subsequently contribute towards creating a positive work environment and establishing healthy relationships between these two groups.Research purpose: The aim of this research is to obtain insights from psychology practitioners about the potential application of, and the value added by, a particular integrity framework within organisations.Motivation for the study: Establishing a positive work environment and organisational culture that upholds integrity and that is conducive to behaviour marked by integrity, requires investment into the development of leadership integrity. Utilising an integrity framework will enable psychology practitioners and organisational leadership to create an environment in which healthy relationships can be established between all stakeholders, in particular, between senior and middle managers, allowing...
2015
Directors believe integrity is vital to the Board. Yet, no shared meaning exists about what integrity means. This is because its meaning is dependent on one’s personal values. This paper builds on research into integrity and top teams by investigating how integrity varies by individual’s personal values. It will explore how individual’s definitions of integrity are based on their values, beliefs and underlying needs and call for further research into Boards ’ values. Data from UK society was collected from 500 UK adults, aged 18 and over. Data from European managers was collected in separate studies of 163 and 73 Owner-, Senior and Middle managers. Results of the research found that definitions of integrity vary by one’s value system. Future research on Directors ’ values should explore how integrity differs from other directors and employees with different values. Recommendations for further research also include analysing the Board agenda to determine whether it resonates with dir...
Research on Integrity: A Review and Assessment
Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences, 2021
The study of ethics and integrity are current issues that deserve scientific attention, the concept and development of integrity models and research studies in their own right. The concept of integrity had been vague as more research is incorporating integrity into their models of research. Throughout the years, improved models of integrity are useful for governments, corporations and individuals for them to make improved decision making. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners stated that global fraud losses are at the levels of trillions of dollars a year. This could be prevented if the people in society act with higher levels of ethic and integrity. The purpose of this paper was to report the results of a systematically conducted literature review of studies related to integrity. The objective of this paper was to explore the development of integrity through literature and content review. This includes examining concepts that are considered part of integrity and the approach used towards assessing or integrating integrity in these studies. This study employed a structured review process that critically examined sources from various electronic databases. Electronic databases that only utilised strict content, scientific quality indicators and are peer-reviewed journals articles are the ones selected. Another selection criterion was that the selected article has high levels of citations. Most of the studies had associated integrity with positive ethical values practised such as leadership, honesty, and sincerity while including these values in their research models. The review briefly discusses the associated concepts of integrity and the underlying values that are connected with the use of the term integrity. The results of past studies related to integrity indicated that there are strong positive characteristics and positive values that are associated with the term integrity.
Exploring how middle managers experience the impact of senior management on their integrity
The increased number of high-profile cases of senior management failure and leadership misconduct has drawn attention to responsible leadership and leadership with integrity. The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of how middle managers experience the impact of senior management practices on their integrity. This study was conducted within the interpretive research paradigm. Sampling was criterion based. In-depth interviews were conducted and the data were analysed using a grounded theory method. The findings indicate that senior managers should engage in two debates with middle managers in the organisation. Firstly, there is the debate about whether a manager is differentiated from other managers when he or she leads with integrity. Secondly, there is the debate that concerns defining integrity and linking it to personal standards and values, as well as aligning these standards and values with the organisational strategy, vision and mission. This research p...
In Integrity in Organizations: Building the Foundations for Humanistic Management (W. Amann and A. Stachowicz-Stanusch eds.), pp. 480-497., 2013
Managers’ integrity refers to a manager’s behavior that is consistent with his/her espoused value and that he/she is honest and trustworthy (Barry & Stephens 1998; Yukl & Van Fleet 1992). As a social notion, integrity also refers to the degree to which people (e.g., managers) satisfy the legitimate expectations of the world around them (Kaptein 1999); this is, their stakeholders. Corporate governance refers to “those administrative monitoring and incentive mechanisms that are intended to reduce conflicts among organizational actors due to differences in incentives” (Lubatkin et al. 2007, p. 43). In other words, governance concerns the structure of rights and responsibilities among the firm’s stakeholders (Aguilera & Jackson 2003; Usunier, Furrer & Furrer-Perrinjaquet 2011). In this chapter, we focus those corporate governance issues that pertain to managers’ integrity. This is, corporate governance requires controlling the risk of opportunism by managers as well as ensuring their integrity.