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This dissertation explores the relationship between social capital and an organizational capability during the earliest phases of emergence. Using an experimental methodology based on a virtual crisis simulation, this research examines the influence of social capital emergence on the evolution of capability performance in real time. Results illustrate the cross-sectional, autoregressive, and cross-lagged change in social capital and capability performance over three measurement intervals, suggesting the presence of a co-evolving relationship between the two constructs. This dissertation contributes valuable insight to the management literature by examining the micro-foundations of organizational capability emergence; demonstrating that the social, relational, and structural context of work is central, especially in its ability to shape collaborative practice and contribute to the collective ability to meet organizational needs. This study demonstrates how the process of social capital emergence occurs, and explains how it relates to the triggering of capability evolution. As a result, this dissertation has generated greater insight into how organizational capabilities grow and evolve, and how social capital contributes to these processes. By better understanding the role that social capital networks play in the emergence and evolution of organizational capabilities, we add some measure of control and predictability to capability evolution allowing organizations to take action to encourage, stabilize, or discourage capability change via specific intervention mechanisms, and

Using data from a survey of large nonprofits across Canada, this study focuses on the determinants of the range of diversity (defined as the number of different ethnocultural and visible minority groups represented) on boards across the country. The determinants of diversity that the article examines include community, organizational, and general board characteristics as well as board diversity practices. We examine the extent to which these factors are related to an increased range of diversity on the boards. It appears that the diversity of the community that nonprofits operate in and efforts to institutionalize formal diversity-related policies are particularly significant determinants of diversity, although board size and reliance on interorganizational alliances in recruitment of board members also have a small relationship. The implications for theory and practice are examined.

Abstract This article examines the important role of social resources in enhancing the effectiveness of nonprofit boards of directors, paying particular attention to the positive implications of social capital. Using data collected from a survey of 234 organizations operating in the Canadian nonprofit sector, we model the relationship between a three‐factor model of social capital and a multidimensional measure of governance effectiveness. Our results demonstrate the positive contribution that social capital makes to the capacity to govern effectively. Findings of our study support the need for renewed attention to social and relational considerations inside the boardroom.

This article, dealing with the topic of academic governance, is based on the experiences and reflections of a previous chair of a university senate. Grounded in recognition of the ever-increasing turbulence and complexity of the context of universities, it reveals some of the gaps and what gets silenced in the process and explores the paradoxical and inherently political nature of governance. Building on the current literature, the article attempts to extend and differentiate our conceptualization of governance and leadership as critical functions for university performance. In particular, governance is conceived of as the reframing, challenging, and questioning of the leadership vision and interpretation of reality and focuses on both external as well as internal trends over the long term and in ways that maximize responsiveness and strategic opportunities.

This article fuses variance generation and suppression arguments with the micro-underpinnings of collective learning to bring the socio-emotional context of learning to the foreground. We take a practice-based perspective on cross-level learning distortions to explore non-recursive trade-offs between variance generation and variance suppression as newcomers adapt to established groups and as groups react to newcomers. Our typology first disaggregates the effects of sociality and emotionality to describe four patterns of context-contingent individual practicing: experimenting, emulating, bracketing and impersonating. We then explain why groups operating in distinct contexts may systematically ignore or discount two specific types of individual departures from collective norms: outliers (infrequent, significant deviations) and clusters (frequent, incremental changes). Our theoretical predictions add value to managers by unpacking the contextual contingencies that systematically pattern individual and collective learning and by suggesting specific interventions for preventing or alleviating learning disorders.

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This research examines the relationship among Board Diversity, Social Capital, and Governance Effectiveness by asking, “does board ethno-racial diversity moderate the relationship between Social Capital and Governance Effectiveness, and if so, how?” Exploring the direct and interacting effects of demographic diversity and Social Capital, and their relation to governing-group effectiveness using a two-sample field survey design, we illustrate whether heterogeneous or homogeneous group compositions amplify or attenuate Governance Effectiveness, and to what degree. Primary analyses find no support for Board Diversity moderating the Social Capital-Governance Effectiveness relationship, with secondary analysis revealing a more complex interaction for Governance Effectiveness, albeit inconsistently, across samples. Our investigation points to the value of social resources in understanding governance as an inherently socially complex activity or capability, predicated on truce or mutual agreement and shaped by the composition and connections of boards.

The need for greater diversity among organizational leaders and directors remains a challenge for organizations within the third sector, and beyond. This study examines diversity through a critical mass lens; that is, we examine an alternative approach to understanding the relationship between the ethno-racial composition of boards of directors and their perceived ability to engage stakeholders, improve organizational responsiveness, and effectively manage fiduciary responsibilities. Our study, drawing on a survey of 247 boards, clarifies the need for a critical mass approach to leadership diversity by highlighting the uneven impact of diversity on performance demonstrated by periods of accelerating and decelerating effect. We find that boards achieving a critical mass of ethno-racial diversity improved board performance among three governance activities—fiduciary performance, stakeholder engagement, and organizational responsiveness—with our critical mass approach illustrating the uneven impact of diversity on performance for each governance activity.

Our contribution lies in exploring loci and reach of leadership diversity’s influence on proximal and distal performance outcomes to understand how and where these can be mobilized. Our moderated-mediation modeling decomposes the direct, indirect, and interaction effects of demographic diversity among three types of focal actors in governance—Boards (gender-, age-, and ethno-racial variety), Board Chairs (gender and ethno-racial demography), Chief Executives (gender and ethno-racial demography)—on five factors reflecting functional and social dimensions of Board Performance and two dimensions of Organizational Performance. We demonstrate that the Board composition affects proximal board performance outcomes, whereas CEO demography is more related to distal organizational performance outcomes. Board Chairs, a less-examined aspect of nonprofit governing, stand out as bridging both proximal and distal outcomes, both directly and through their interactions with Board diversity and CEO demography.

This article explores the dynamics of diversity and inclusion in the context of boards of directors in the nonprofit sector. Our multimethod study builds on current diversity research by exploring social microprocesses of inclusion in diverse governing groups. We consider functional and social approaches to inclusion within boards, and address the potential for more transformative inclusion. Our findings suggest significant opportunities for meaningful change by shifting focus from diversity to inclusive practices within diverse groups.