Luca Gnan

Family Involvement and Agency Cost Control Mechanisms in Family Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

Family firms may experience different agency conflicts to the classical principal‐agent conflict, which arise depending on the varying extent of family involvement. Agency cost control mechanisms should be introduced to cope with them. The paper focuses on family involvement, in governance () and in management (), agency cost control mechanisms, and financial performance in family . The results show that is negatively related to agency cost control mechanisms, but they are positively related to , Finally, the importance of agency cost control mechanisms positively influences the financial performance. Hypotheses were tested using .

Leading Organisational Changes in Public Sector Building Blocks in Understanding Boards Behaviour

Purpose – Starting from public and corporate governance literature, the chapter aims to evidence the opportunity in exploring board of directors in public organisations, where the focus is on a behavioural perspective.Design/methodology/approach – Presenting two levels of analysis: (a) the relationship between the board and ‘external’ stakeholders, and (b) the relationship between the board and managers, a framework is proposed evidencing which factors (variables, constructs and concepts) logically should be considered as part of the explanation of boards’ role in public organisations’ innovation.Findings – The chapter provides support for a board model in public governance, evidencing both the opportunity to assume a multi-paradigm perspective and the existing similarities and differences between boards in public and corporate governance approach. It is possible, for example, to empirically apply the framework both to different national context and to different levels of public organisations.Originality/value of chapter – The chapter presents theoretical perspectives on governance research, and both some pioneer studies in public sector research and some of the major contribution in corporate governance studies. All of them have been put together, introducing a new stream of research in the debate on the micro (organisational) level of governance in public sector.

The Movement Beyond the New Public Management: Public Governance Practices in Italian Public Organisations

Purpose – The chapter aims to analyse specific management tools which can be used to facilitate public governance practices, such as the process of stakeholder involvement.Methodology/approach – By means of both a theoretical discussion and an empirical research conducted on Italian local public utilities (LPUs), the chapter attempts to understand: (a) the degree of application of quality management, sustainability mechanisms and stakeholders involvement; (b) the correlation between the application of these tools stakeholder involvement processes.Findings – Not all the tools imported from the private sector have the same ‘attitudes’ for stakeholder involvement evidencing a gap of Italian LPUs in quality management systems in ensuring that stakeholders and their contribution to product value is considered. These results give support to the necessity to move beyond New Public Management. Therefore, governance becomes a new process for developing and implementing public policies: this requires original mechanisms of coordination among institutional actors, public authorities and stakeholders.Research limitations/implications – This study gives rise to new research path in LPUs corporate governance research. Looking for the creation of a series of suppositions and considerations as to why LPUs actively venture into the practice of good corporate governance trough stakeholder involvement. Accordingly, it is necessary to invest in the debate on the tasks of the board of directors.Originality/value of paper – This study gives a new path of research, asking board of directors to move toward a stakeholder-conscious governance model, with broader input and ongoing engagement, as an important aspect for a better corporate governance in public administrations.

Empirical Research on Nonprofit Boards: Main Features and Differences from the Literature on Corporate and Public Boards

Abstract Purpose Recent literature on nonprofit boards of directors has extensively investigated the composition, role, responsibilities, and characteristics of boards. Given the growing number of studies on nonprofit boards, which added new impulse to the debate on the role and characteristics of these players, it is time to analyze the state of the art and systematize the current knowledge. On the other hand, despite the presence of some literature reviews, a research comparing the debate among the nonprofit, private, and public sectors is still lacking. Using Gabrielsson and Huse’s (2004) framework, we wanted to identify factors that can influence research on nonprofit boards and compare our results with existing studies on private and public sector. Methodology/Approach We conduct a systematic literature review, selecting empirical articles published in international scientific journals from 1992 to 2012. Findings We found similarities and differences in relation to research on boards among sectors. As a common result, we found that evolutionary studies still remains a neglected area in all of three realms. Finally, whereas input–output studies prevail in the private sector and contingency studies prevail in the public sector, behavioral studies prevail in the nonprofit sector, demonstrating, also, that the sector itself can make a difference in the board’s research. Research Limitations/Implications This literature review provides some suggestion for further research on boards for all of three sectors. For example, we suggest complementing research on boards on all three sectors, especially in relation to evolutionary studies. Originality/Value of Paper This paper fills the need to clarify the status of research on nonprofit boards, in order to address scholars in the understanding of the phenomenon.

Cross-Sectoral Relations in the Delivery of Public Services

This volume presents and discusses evidence on collaboration between government, businesses and non-profits, focusing on an inter-organizational perspective of managing at the boundaries between sectors.

Contingency, Behavioural and Evolutionary Perspectives on Public and Nonprofit Governance

This volume accesses governance in public and non-profit organizations. Building on and challenging recent research in this area, this volume critically examines the contextual, behavioural and historical factors of governance.

The glass ceiling in SMEs and its impact on firm managerialisation: a comparison between family and non-family SMEs

This article aims at comparing family and non-family SMEs with regard to the role of women in ownership, governance and management roles and its relation with the firm managerialisation. We conducted a quantitative deductive design and tested the hypotheses through a questionnaire survey of 313 SMEs in Italy. Findings reveal that family SMEs are a more favourable context for breaking through the glass ceiling. Results also show that in non-family SMEs managerial mechanisms are more relevant when women are involved in governance and managerial roles. On the contrary, in family SMEs, our findings do not outline an active role of women in favouring firm managerialisation.