Pamela B. Roush

An investigation of the effects of decisional guidance and cognitive ability on decision-making involving uncertainty data

Abstract In their roles as users and providers of uncertainty data, decision-makers are confronted with choosing among a plethora of data formats offered by the decision support systems on most personal computers, but are offered little in the way of decisional guidance for choosing the most effective display format. This research investigated when and why decisional guidance should be provided. We found that in tasks involving uncertainty data, the decision-makers were more accurate and responded faster when symbolic tasks were matched with tabular displays and spatial tasks were matched with graphical displays. We also found that when subjects were provided with both matched and unmatched display formats, field independent individuals were more accurate for both spatial and symbolic tasks. When decisional guidance restricted the display formats to match the task types, field dependency did not significantly affect performance. This suggests that cognitive ability or field dependency is not a factor when the mental representation formulated is consistent with the problem representation.

Corporate social responsibility and shareholder support for corporate governance changes

Purpose - This paper examines whether shareholders consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance when voting on corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders. These proposals recommend changes to the corporate governance status quo and are made by dissident shareholders who are dissatisfied with the company’s existing governance practices. Design/methodology/approach - Using 195 governance change proposals voted on during 2013, the paper examines the relationship between CSR performance (obtained from the MSCI database) and the level of voting support for these proposals. Findings - This study finds that shareholder support for corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders is Research limitations/implications - The findings suggest that shareholders may be concerned with the potentially adverse effects of weak CSR performance, especially poor environmental performance, and may support changes to corporate governance structures when a company’s CSR and environmental performance is weaker. Originality/value - As the first research to examine the relationship between CSR and proposed changes to corporate governance, this study provides unique insights into shareholder perceptions of the value of CSR based on shareholders’ support (or lack thereof) for governance changes proposed by dissident shareholders.

CEO/Chair Duality in the Sarbanes–Oxley Era: Board Independence Versus Unity of Command

CEO duality occurs when the same individual holds both the CEO and board Chair positions. In some countries (such as Britain) CEO duality is considered to impair good corporate governance. In the United States, however, CEO duality is still a common practice. The Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) included many corporate governance reforms, but the Act did not address the issue of CEO duality. However, we suggest that the corporate governance environment surrounding the passage of SOX may have influenced corporate board decisions regarding CEO duality when appointing new CEOs. In this study, we seek to determine whether CEO duality changed in the post-Sox environment by investigating the likelihood of CEO duality when CEO changes took place before and after SOX. Using a sample of 182 CEO succession events before and after the passage of SOX, we find that the likelihood of combining the CEO and Chair positions for newly appointed CEOs significantly decreased in the post-SOX period relative to the pre-SOX period. Our results suggest the SOX environment fostered a greater focus on governance issues even beyond the specific provisions of SOX.