The study
aims to explore the control role that board directors undertake and understand the
impact of several board characteristics on these roles. Building on existing literature
a model was developed to test the hypothesised relationships – i.e. directors’ control
role with board characteristics. The responses were collected from 115
directors in UK organisations. Principal component analysis was conducted to
reduce the data and propose a set of directors’ roles and correlation as well
as regression analyses are utilised in order to test the hypothesised
relationships.
The results
of the statistical analysis propose some impact of the board characteristics on
what directors do, extending the limited empirical evidence found in the literature.
However, the theoretical framework needs further examination and research.
The study
is evidenced by various limitations. Firstly, additional constructs can be added
as determinants of the directors’ control role. Secondly, the response rate in the
survey is relatively low which is regarded as a limitation, although there are
limited studies offering quantitative results from board members.