Women on Boards of Directors

This research aims to measure the current gender representation in membership of boards of directors,and to study the factors affecting the presence of women on boards.The results of the study will support the decision makers and policy makers at all levels by providing knowledge that contributes to bridging the current gap in participation of women boards.The methodology used in this research is the descriptive analytical approach,which relies on quantitative methods in the process of collecting and analyzing data.This study represents the boards of directors in the three sectors(public,private,and non-profit)in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,The study sample contained 350 targets,where a random sample of 150 people in the public sector,100 people in the private sector,and 100 people in the non-profit sector were selected.The research result found that the majority of the responses believe that the lack of experience and training,and social factors,are the most impact areas of explaining the reasons for the existence of a gap in women’s membership in boards of directors in the three sectors.And the most important reasons for the existence of a gender gap in board membership are:there is no statutory minimum percentage for women’s representation on boards of directors,and scarcity of female competencies in general,and the lack of women occupying leadership positions.

The Effect of the Board of Directors and Audit Quality on Disclosure of Internal Control Practices: Evidence from European Companies

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the board of directors,namely board size,board independence,and CEO duality,as well as audit quality on the disclosure of internal control information.The sample consists of 164 European companies listed in the STOXX Europe 600.Based on positive agency theory,the authors posit that board of directors and audit quality influence corporate internal control disclosure practice.The content analysis and the design of the evaluation criterion were used to calculate the disclosure index of internal control.Thus,multiple regression analysis is utilized to analyze the results of this paper.The average internal control information disclosure index was 0.285,indicating that most of the companies in our sample do not disclose enough information about the internal control.This low level of forward-looking information disclosure makes it very difficult for corporate stakeholders to determine the future performance of the company.Multivariate results indicate that internal control disclosure is positively and significantly associated with board independence,CEO duality,and audit quality.This study contributes to the literature on the various governance characteristics and disclosure by showing that the disclosure of internal control information in European countries is positively and significantly associated with board independence,separation of duties,and audit quality.Our study was based on a sample of European companies including countries regulating IC disclosure as well as unregulated settings.As noted by Bedard and Graham(2014),regulatory differences in countries can contribute insights on the costs and benefits of disclosure.Findings also have policy implications for investors,managers,and regulators.

Board of Directors, Independent Directors and Audit Fees： Based on the Empirical Data of the GEM of China

As one of the alternative variables of audit quality, audit fees have been researched widely in the Mainboard of China stock market, but empirical research based on the GEM （Growth Enterprise Market） of China is very few. From the perspective of GEM of China, this article observes and studies the impact of corporate governance structure represented by board of directors and independent directors on audit fees. This article selects the data of 348 listed companies in the GEM of China in 2012, proves that there is a positive correlation between the number of meetings, independent directors＇ salaries and audit fees through the use of multiple linear regression model, and accordingly proposed suggestions that improve the corporate governance structure of the GEM of China.

An Empirical Research on the Relationship between Board of Directors Governance and Corporate Performance of Chinese Public Companies

Board of directors is an important component part of corporate governance. As a governance mechanism, we empirically study relationship among the scale of the board of directors, the structure of the board of directors and the duality leadership structure with corporate performance in Chinese public companies. The result shows that the smaller scale of the board of the directors is, the better performance is. With the ownership structure changing better, the structure of the board of directors will change better and promote the performance. The duality leadership structure doesn＇t affect the corporate performance. The fundamental method for the governance effectiveness of the board is to set up the reasonable ownership structure and the marketing mechanism for occurrences in human .

A Study of the Role of the Board of Directors in Corporate Governance Based on UK Listed Companies

Companies are directed and controlled by corporate governance.It acts on the company internally and externally.The board of directors is responsible for the governance of the company;that is to say,the board of directors is the brain of the company,while corporate governance is the blood distributed throughout the company,which not only supplies blood to the whole,but also reflects the situation.Therefore,with regard to the role of the board of directors in corporate governance,this paper objectively analyzes the importance of the board of directors in corporate governance from theory to practice and from the internal composition of the board of directors to the impact of the board’s actions on the enterprise as a whole based on United Kingdom(UK)listed companies.

Lecture by the President of the Vancouver Port Authority at Business Community Held by the Vancouver Board of Trade

Ladys and gentlemen,good afternoon. As always, it’s a pleasure to be invited by the Vancouver Board of Trade to address the business community as well as many of my colleagues in the transportation sectors. I want to tell you about an experience that has caused me to re-think the message I want to leave you with this afternoon. Rather than focusing on the Port of Vancouver today, and the things we do

Effects of Pilot Programs for China's Central SOE Board of Directors

Since June 2004, the State-Owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission(SASAC) has launched pilot programs for a board of directors(BoD) for central SOEs to establish and improve their governance structure and standardize their exercise of shareholder rights over state-owned listed companies. Based on this quasinatural experiment, this paper examines the BoD's effects on the agency cost of state-owned listed companies and their economic consequences. Using data of central SOE-controlled companies listed at Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges during 2002-2015, this paper finds that the pilot programs significantly reduced the two types of agency costs for the companies, and such effects primarily existed for listed companies with smaller central SOE shareholding ratios. Further test uncovers that, compared with central SOEs that did not carry out the pilot programs, those that did reported higher economic value-added and stock returns. Our conclusions offer a new interpretation of the BoD's governance effects from a controlling shareholder's perspective, and provide empirical evidence for the positive effects of the pilot programs for central SOE boards of directors. These findings have important policy implications for deepening SOE governance reforms.

Impact of Multiple Directorships on Performance for Companies Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange （JSE）

The study investigates the plausible link between multiple directorships and company performance for Johannesburg Stock Exchange （JSE） listed companies in South Africa. This study also interrogates whether companies with busy boards perform better or worse than non over-boarded companies. The incidence of multiple directorship on JSE is low, therefore the hypothesis is rejected at 5%. Over-boarded company directors attend significantly less board meetings. The Pearson correlation between connectedness and log-transformed financial ratios is not significant between all the six financial ratios. The study finds no difference in performance between over-boarded and non over-boarded companies, and no association between multiple directorships and company performance.

Board Effectiveness in Pharmaceutical Industry： The Case of TAPIC Pharmaceutical Group

Pharmaceutical industry plays a strategic role in economy of Iran. Corporate governance, in pharmaceutical companies as the very core of an organization, and the driving force of corporate leadership, plays a significant role in business success and overall productivity of the firms. As yet, the characteristics, factors causing success and failure of core governance in Iranian pharmaceutical industry have remained unsearched. Furthermore, the applicability of western theories and models to the traditional societies such as Iran are largely unknown. This study is an attempt to explore the pattern of board effectiveness and firm performance in Iranian pharmaceutical industry and suggesting an alternative good governance model suitable to apply to less developed countries （LDC） pharmaceutical industry, with emphasis on Iranian context. After An intensive literature review the model suggested by Ingley and Van der Walt （2001） was found to be more comprehensive, practical and suitable for this study. However, after empirical evaluation further development to the model to fit the pharmaceutical industry and the context of LDCs, especially Iran, is suggested. Empirically the paper stands upon a rich database consisting of Tamin Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Investment Company （TAPIC） and its 11 subsidiary companies which are treated as 11 mini-cases. Data were collected by document analysis, questionnaire and interviews. Since two of the authors have many years experience as managers in the same industrial group, we got access to rich information that normally are not accessible to researchers in less developed countries. The results suggest some improvements to the earlier models and show that the pattern of board effectiveness in Iranian pharmaceutical industry can be influenced by： （1） Internal factors including： （a） board members, the personality and background, （b） board composition, which is influenced by selection criteria, Tribalism, interpersonal relationship and belonging to the same ideological group, （c） board interactions, and （d） power distribution in the board, which is influenced by parenting power in holding companies. All internal factors are directly or indirectly affected by political issues as well as socio-cultural forces. （2） External factors including： （a） industrial complexity and the nature of industry, （b） industrial ethos, （c） legislation, and political forces, （d） economy, which the last two factors are influenced by international environment as well.

Study on the Current Implementation Situation of the Independent Director System in China＇s Listed Companies

The independent director system, as an effective measure to improve the corporation governance structure of China＇ s listed companies, is focused by more and more people at the capital market. In this paper, the proportion of independent directors in the board of directors, and the actual condition, compensation, and duties performing of independent directors are analyzed by taking A-share listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange as an example, so that the current implementation situation of the independent director system in China＇ s listed companies is analyzed deeply through the empirical method. Finally, suggestions for its imorovement are orooosed.

The Empirical Study of Board Structure and Firm Performance-Innovative Small Enterprises in China

This study took small enterprises listed from 2010 to 2015 as the empirical object.The board size,CEO duality,and ratio of independent directors were independent variables.The return on total assets,return on shareholders’equity and earnings per share were taken as the dependent variables,and three hypotheses were tested with SPSS.It is found that the board size was positively correlated with firm performance,but was not significant.There was no significant correlation between the ratio of independent directors and CEO duality on firm performance.This study suggests that optimizing the leadership structure of the board of directors can help improve the firm performance of enterprises.

Analysis of Boards of Directors of Listed Companies --Empirical Evidence from China Stock Market

Since stock markets came forth in China only about 15 years ago, there are many different characteristics of Chinese listed companies compared with those of western. According to the regulation on Chinese security markets, an effective internal governance system is composed of systems of general meeting of shareholders, board of directors, board of supervisors and managers. The general meeting of shareholders, as the highest agency of power, makes decisions on important affairs of the company and one of its most important rights is to select qualified members for the board of directors. Board of directors exercises the resolution made by general meeting of shareholders and fulfil the responsibilities authorized by general meeting of shareholder during adjournment. Among the system arrangements above-mentioned, board of directors is the most important. However, the efficiency of internal governing system of the whole company depends on board of directors. Combined with ownership structure analysis, this paper analyses the status quo of boards of directors in China and demonstrates every attribute of Chinese listed companies＇ board of directors.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Biological Chemistry?

The first issue of World Journal of Biological Chemistry (WJBC ), whose preparatory work was initiated on July 01, 2009, will be published on January 26, 2010. The WJBC Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 341 distinguished experts from 37 countries. Our purpose of launching WJBC is to publish peer-reviewed, high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model, thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public, and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members, authors and readers.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Diabetes?

The first issue of World Journal of Diabetes(WJD),whose preparatory work was initiated on September 23,2008,is published on March 15,2010.The WJD Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 323 distinguished experts from 38 countries.Our purpose of launching WJD is to publish peer-reviewed,high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model,thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public,and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members,authors and readers.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology?

The first issue of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology(WJGO),whose preparatory work was initiated on September 27,2008,will be published on October 15,2009.The WJGO Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 210 distinguished experts from 32 countries.Our purpose of launching WJGO is to publish peer-reviewed,high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model,thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public,and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members,authors and readers.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Stem Cells?

The first issue of World Journal of Stem Cells (WJSC ), whose preparatory work was initiated on September 27, 2008, will be published on December 31, 2009. The WJSC Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 281 distinguished experts from 28 countries. Our purpose of launching WJSC is to publish peer-reviewed, high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model, thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public, and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members, authors and readers.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery?

The first issue of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery(WJGS),whose preparatory work was initiated on September 27,2008,will be published on November 30,2009.The WJGS Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 328 distinguished experts from 35 countries.Our purpose of launching WJGS is to publish peer-reviewed,high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model,thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public,and maximizing the benefi ts to editorial board members,authors and readers.

What is the purpose of launching World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy?

The first issue of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy(WJGE),whose preparatory work was initiated on October 13,2008,will be published on October 15,2009.The WJGE Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 97 distinguished experts from 24 countries.Our purpose of launching WJGE is to publish peer-reviewed,high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model,thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public,and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members,authors and readers.