Exploring the governance committee: the trinity’s great forgotten

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore governance committee’s attributes in terms of composition, roles/duties and responsibilities and operations. Design/methodology/approach Information on the governance committee and the board in general was collected from the websites of 167 Canadian firms. Financial data were collected from the Sedar database. Findings Results uncover two patterns of governance committee attributes (composition, roles and operations), resulting in our characterization of governance committees as “less active” and “more active.” In light of additional analyses, the two groups also differ in terms of antecedents and impact. Practical implications This study can help board members to enhance board effectiveness by describing governance committee attributes and identifying contextual factors that could lead to a more active governance committee. In addition, it suggests that such committee can improve financial performance. Originality/value This empirical research focuses on the governance committee, a largely unexplored primary board oversight committee. An index comprising 19 duties and responsibilities performed by the governance committee was developed.