I have long been fascinated by the role of boards in organisations, especially what they do and their contribution to performance. Most boards seem to be well-intended, but confusion over what corporate governance is and how it might be practiced has resulted in more questions than answers. Public reports of incompetence, ineptitude, hubris, fraud and moral failures has not helped either.
In 2012, I commenced doctoral research, to try to satisfy my curiosity. Dr. James Lockhart, Massey University, supervised the research. The findings were ground-breaking; my longitudinal observation study produced great insights, including clarifying what corporate governance is (a mechanism to provide steerage and guidance, activated by a competent, functional board), and a framework to lift board effectiveness (the strategic governance framework).
Doctoral thesis, research papers and published articles
Polite notice: Copyright of the doctoral thesis and all of the papers and articles listed on this page rests with the author(s). Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1994. The moral right to be identified as the author(s) is asserted.
Doctoral thesis:
Crow, P. R. (2016). Understanding corporate governance, strategic management and firm performance: As evidenced from the boardroom. (Ph.D thesis), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. (Abstract)
Book:
Crow, P. R. (forthcoming). Boardcraft: The art of governing with impact.
Papers and articles:
Crow, P. R. (2024). Governing with impact: Tackling a distinctly wicked problem. Private Director Association Blog, June 2024.
Crow, P. R. (2022). Towards more effective corporate governance. The Hunt Report, Vol 15, 9–13.
Crow, P. R. (2021). Beyond diversity: The importance of wisdom, maturity and proximity. Ethical Boardroom, Issue 24.
Crow, P. R. (2018). Corporate governance: Embracing a new mindset. Peter Drucker Society Blog, November 2018.
Crow, P. R. (2018). Boards and firm performance: Explaining a contingent relationship. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference: International Corporate Governance Society. Shanghai, China.
Crow, P. R. (2018). In pursuit of effective corporate governance. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2018.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2017). Understanding corporate governance directly: Illuminating an important methodological issue. Proceedings of the 14th Corporate Governance Workshop: European Institute of Advanced Management Studies. Brussels, Belgium.
Lockhart, J. C., Crow, P. R., Kominik, A., & Strong, M. W. (2017). Governance revisited: The sacred and profane memories of an effective corporate director. Proceedings of the 14th Workshop on Corporate Governance: European Institute of Advanced Management Studies. Brussels, Belgium.
Crow, P. R. (2017). Reaching for the reset button. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2017.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2016). How boards influence business performance: Developing an explanation. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, 37(8), 1022–1037.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2016). Board influence from and beyond the boardroom: A provisional explanation. Proceedings of the 13th Workshop of Corporate Governance: European Institute of Advanced Management Studies. Milan, Italy. (Best paper award)
Crow, P. R. (2016). Effective board contributions in social enterprises. Ethical Boardroom, Spring 2016.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2015). Is corporate governance a structure, a process, a group of policies, or something else? Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Lisbon, Portugal.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2015). Re-assessing governance research: A return to first principles. Proceedings of the Twelfth Workshop on Corporate Governance: European Institute of Advanced Management Studies. Brussels, Belgium. (selected as 'lead paper')
Crow, P. R. (2015). Internships: A vehicle for getting aspiring directors up to speed? Ethical Boardroom, Summer 2015.
Crow, P. R. (2015). Boards, strategy and business performance: Observations from inside boardrooms. Proceedings of the 15th European Academy of Management Conference. Warsaw, Poland.
Crow, P. R. (2015). Executive-controlled boards, power and influence: A reality check. Proceedings of the Second International Governance Workshop. Toulouse Business School, Barcelona, Spain.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). Searching for accountability in corporate governance. Ethical Boardroom, Winter 2014.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). The crucial importance of access to the advancement of governance research. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Zagreb, Croatia.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014) Corporate governance issues in New Zealand and Australia. Ethical Boardroom.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2014). On the use of critical realism to advance governance research beyond correlations. Proceedings of the 28th British Academy of Management Conference. Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Crow, P. R., Lockhart, J. C., & Lewis, K. V. (2014). Towards a re-conceptualisation of governance, via strategic decision-making and performance. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Boston, USA.
Crow, P. R., Lockhart, J. C., & Lewis, K. V. (2013). The relationship between governance and performance: Literature reveals new insights. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Klagenfurt, Austria.
Lockhart, J. C., & Crow, P. R. (2013). An exploration of the board management nexus: From agency to performance. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Klagenfurt, Austria.
Crow, P. R., & Lockhart, J. C. (2013). The impact of governance on the performance of a high growth company: An exemplar case study. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of Management, Leadership and Governance. Bangkok, Thailand.