Corporate Governance in Tourist Organizations ; Four Papers on Board Roles, Boardroom Behavior, and Public Sector Influence

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to study corporate governance practice, the roles and behavior of the boards of directors of tourist organizations, and the influence of the contextual characteristics of tourism and tourist organizations on these aspects. The thesis treats tourist organizations as corporate entities, and corporate governance as the structuring and direction of tourist organizations. Tourist organizations are typically destination-based, and are composed of a number of stakeholders with interests in tourism activities in a specific geographical area.

This thesis consists of four papers comprising common and current aspects of corporate governance. It is a study of what boards of directors in tourist organizations do, whom directors see themselves working for and their strategic orientations, how external contingencies and boardroom behavior influence their organizational commitment, and finally of public sector power in the system of corporate governance. The studies were designed to gather information on corporate governance using multiple theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Norway was the research setting.

In summary, the findings indicate that contextual contingencies have the potential to affect the internal affairs and boards of tourist organizations. Traditional board roles-strategy, service, and control-can be found in these boards. The results indicate that divergent views among directors concerning whom they work for influence their strategic thinking. The Strategic Orientation Scale developed in this study revealed two dimensions: a holistic orientation focusing on the common benefits of a destination, and a stakeholder orientation toward specific groups or interests. The results support the view that boardroom behavior influences directors' organizational commitment. A holistic perspective has a direct effect on directors' commitment; in addition, it decreases their perceptions of intragroup conflict and positively influences their effort norms. The expected influence of directors' stakeholder orientation was not found. Finally, the public sector power that was found seems to be strongly associated with aspects of corporate governance-public shareholding and public directorships-in addition to public resource dependence.