External Board Members and Board Roles in Recently Started Firms : a comparative study of manufacturing firms and IT-firms

• Board roles in recently started firms are a rarely studied topic. A few studies of board roles in small and medium sized firms have been made (Huse and Halvorsen, 1995), and the results of these studies can be used as a framework for this study. One reason for the absence of research in the field is that these firms are often family firms where the board frequently has only a formal role, though they are organised as limited companies. Even though there has been little interest in research on boards of directors in recently started firms, society has shown an increasing interest in the phenomenon. For example, the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK) did not have one single note on the subject of boards of directors in their information regarding new firms in 1986 while, in 1997, the importance of a functioning board was mentioned various times in the corresponding brochure. In the guidebook which participants receive when taking part in the McKinsey business-plan competition Venture Cup, one of the six chapters discusses the importance of a well-functioning leading group and board of directors. The motivation is that new companies have a better chance to survive and reach the market with its products if it has a well-functioning board.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Board roles

SME

Recently started firms

Publikations- och innehållstyp

pop (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)