A relational framework for understanding board commitment: a cooperative governance survey.

• Author: Newton, Brian
• Position: Report

There have been many surveys and studies done of corporate governance by any number of organizations and academic professionals. Most of these studies focus on corporate duties such as setting direction, formulating policy and monitoring results. Few delve into the psychological and social aspects of board governance. These aspects of governance explore some of the reasons that board members serve on cooperative boards and why they choose to stay on the board. More specifically, do good board relationships (social and professional) influence how board members handle issues and differences, how board members understand their role in the cooperative, and how committed board members feel to the organization?

To answer these questions and get a better understanding of some of the human relationships affecting cooperative board governance, nearly 500 board members and more than 600 CEOs of electric cooperatives were surveyed in 2007. The survey probed board members about their engagement with fellow board members, whether they felt appreciated and respected by their peers, and how comfortable they felt about expressing their opinion without jeopardizing their self-image. Respondents also answered questions about disagreement in the boardroom, about board social activities and, about their role in the cooperative.

This survey varied from conventional governance surveys in that it asked the same governance questions to both board members and CEOs. This was done to compare the two points of view and to overcome self-report biases. Studies have shown that when people answer survey questions about themselves, they tend to either overrate or underrate themselves, introducing bias into the survey results. Therefore, by asking the CEO to rate his or her board member--in addition to asking the board members to rate themselves--the responses could be compared without the risk of self-reported bias.

Dimensions of Board Member Commitment

One of the most significant attributes of the cooperative business model is the commitment that cooperative employees demonstrate to their respective organizations. The term "cooperative family" is an often used expression and there are many instances of successive generations working for electric cooperatives across the country. However, board commitment, unlike employee commitment, is an understudied and under-researched subject. One reason is that the role of board members is fundamentally different from that of paid employees. The organizational rewards (income, benefits, full-time responsibilities, advancement, etc) and the positive job outcomes (reduced absenteeism and turnover, improved job performance, increased...