Title: The supervision of strategy and risk in German two-tier boards: lessons learned from the crisis

Authors: Marc Eulerich; Markus Stiglbauer

Addresses: Mercator School of Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 65, 47057 Duisburg, Germany ' School of Business and Economics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nuremberg, Germany

Abstract: The boards' role to supervise corporate strategy and risk determines the efficiency of 'good' corporate governance. Not only in the highlight of the financial crisis, board members, are challenged by a critical need for pro-active supervision. We examine the effects of the crisis on German supervisory boards' work and conclude first, which supervisory boards work in a pro-active way: They support the executive board in strategy development and implementation and try to anticipate the strategic development of the company. Secondly, boards change their meeting schedule immediately in case of a potential crisis. Thirdly, besides the focus on financial data, board members use other sources of information and a stakeholder perspective as an important source to supervise the executive board's work.

Keywords: corporate governance; supervisory boards; two-tier boards; financial crisis; supervision; Germany; corporate strategy; risk assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2013.055832

International Journal of Management Practice, 2013 Vol.6 No.3, pp.220 - 234

Published online: 04 May 2014 *

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