Meta-analytic reviews of board composition,leadership structure,and financial performance

Careful review of extant research addressing the relationships between board composition, board leadership structure, and firm financial performance demonstrates little consistency in results. In general, neither board composition nor board leadership structure has been consistently linked to firm financial performance. In response to these findings, we provide meta-analyses of 54 empirical studies of board composition (159 samples, n = 40,160) and 31 empirical studies of board leadership structure (69 samples, n = 12,915) and their relationships to firm financial performance. These—and moderator analyses relying on firm size, the nature of the financial performance indicator, and various operationalizations of board composition—provide little evidence of systematic governance structure/financial performance relationships. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Striking a Balance for Sustainable Tourism: Implications of the Discourse on Globalisation

Tourism, as a macro global force, is welcomed but often viewed with reticence as it can damage environments and bring about negative economic and sociocultural changes. For tourism to be sustainable, balance is integral. This paper questions the comprehension behind 'balance' using the discourse evident in globalisation studies. It argues that globalisation is not driven from 'out there'; external processes and activities interact with local conditions such that the outcomes of globalisation are moderated by processes that function at multiple layers. Understanding that power relationships interplay in a specific context and the organisational milieux in which the tourism experience is encountered help to elucidate the tensions that exist and throw light on the 'balance' that sustainable tourism aspires for. Whether the effects of tourism are expressed in terms of the economy, culture and heritage or the environment, understanding the global-local nexus credits local players with more control and enables a better understanding of the forces underpinning change and hence sustainability.