Title: Unravelling the human side of the board: the role of motivational and cognitive compatibility in board decision making

Authors: Michele Morner, Eva-Maria Renger, Reynaldo Valle Thiele

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Reinhard-Mohn-Chair of Management and Business Ethics, University Witten/Herdecke, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58448 Witten, Germany. ' Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Reinhard-Mohn-Chair of Management and Business Ethics, University Witten/Herdecke, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58448 Witten, Germany. ' Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Reinhard-Mohn-Chair of Management and Business Ethics, University Witten/Herdecke, Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50, 58448 Witten, Germany

Abstract: This paper unravels the human side of board behaviour by focusing on the way in which the cognitive and motivational compatibility of board members affects cooperative board decision making. On the one hand we examine the cognitive (dis-) similarities of board members that influence board members| ability to cooperate and, on the other, we discuss board members| intrinsically- and/or extrinsically-dominated motivational patterns that determine their willingness to cooperate. We link board members| ability and willingness to cooperate to the board|s decision-making process and show that motivational as well as cognitive compatibility are of critical importance for achieving cooperative board decision making.

Keywords: board behaviour; cooperative decision making; compatibility; cognitive similarities; cooperation; board members; motivational patterns; motivation; business governance; corporate governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2010.035603

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2010 Vol.5 No.4, pp.323 - 342

Published online: 01 Oct 2010 *

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