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Purpose The purpose of this paper is, first, to empirically examine whether the appointment of females (board gender diversity) to the corporate boards of UK financial institutions can improve firm value, and second, to examine whether having females on the boards of UK financial institutions can impact firm value during the pre-/post-global financial crisis periods. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses secondary data obtained from DataStream covering 63 financial institutions over a period of 12 years. A number of additional statistical estimations, including random effects and fixed effects, are conducted to test the robustness of the findings. Findings The outcome of this empirical research shows that the presence of females on the corporate boards of UK financial institutions has a positive and statistically significant relationship with firm value. The authors’ evidence reveals a positive and statistically significant impact on the firm’s value prior to the financial crisis, that is, during the pre-crisis period (2000-2006), meaning that women contributed significantly to the firm’s value. However, after the financial crisis, the presence of females on the board had no significant effect on the firm’s value. A reasonable explanation may be that, whilst the financial crisis was over in the period 2009-2011, the entire UK economy was still experiencing an economic downturn, and financial firms were no exception, irrespective of whether there was female representation on any corporate board. Overall, the findings are consistent with the prior studies. Practical implications The results have practical implications for governments, policy-makers and regulatory authorities, by indicating the importance of women to corporate success. Originality/value Despite several research projects on board gender diversity (BGD), this research is unique compared to the previous empirical studies, primarily because it is the first-time research of this nature is empirically ascertaining BGD and firm value in UK financial institutions, also during the pre-/post-financial crisis era. This paper contributes to the corporate governance literature by offering new insights on board diversity and firms’ value relationship. Overall, the results help fill any gaps on gender diversity and firm value in UK financial institutions.

Summary This paper extends the understandings of the contextual antecedents of employee creativity at work by examining what can happen when employees are ostracized by loved ones at home, a phenomenon referred to as family ostracism. Drawing on insights from the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the moderated multiple mediation relationships between family ostracism and an individual's creativity at work through strain‐based family‐to‐work conflict (FWC) and creative process engagement (CPE), moderated by the need for affiliation. Using time‐lagged data collected from working adults in the United Kingdom, our results demonstrate that the relationship between family ostracism and creativity is negatively and serially mediated by both strain‐based FWC and CPE. These results hold even when controlling for the time‐ and behavior‐based dimensions of FWC, workplace ostracism, family undermining, harmonious passion, and Time 1 creativity. Furthermore, individuals with a higher need for affiliation react more strongly to their experiences of family ostracism than those with a lower need. The implications for research and practice are also discussed.

Purpose: This study examines the impact of audit committee (AC) adoption on the financial value of financial institutions in the UK and also examines the impact of the establishment of an audit committee on firm value during the pre/post global financial crisis era. Design/methodology/approach: The paper embarks on a theoretical and empirical literature review on audit committee (AC) adoption and its impact on the firm's financial value. The paper uses data from 63 financial institutions and covers a 12-year period. Findings: The empirical results indicate that the adoption of an AC by financial institutions has a positive and statistically significant impact on firm value. The results from the precrisis period also indicate the adoption of an AC makes a positive and significant contribution to firm value. However, there is no impact on firm value during the post-crisis period. Our results suggest that the entire UK economy experienced an economic downturn after the financial crisis (2009)(2010)(2011) and financial firms were no exception. Research limitations/implications: Our study helps to fill research gaps on the relationships between ACs and firm value as they exist in UK financial institutions. These findings are important for policy-makers and regulators. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to conduct an empirical study of the effect of AC adoption on UK financial institutions and firm value. Second, no single study has been conducted on the effects of AC adoption and its impact on either the pre-or the post-financial crisis periods. This is the first paper to provide such empirical evidence.