This book explores the correlations of diversity and power in UK boardrooms and the difficulties inherent in truly merit-based appointments. From a distance, boardroom diversity is seen as a UK success story of recent years. A closer look at boardrooms reveals a more uncomfortable truth. The board can be split into tracks of power and diversity. Where there is a concentration in power, genuine diversity is much less prevalent.
Using the FTSE 100, the book examines the appointment and retention of the most powerful positions in some of the world’s most powerful corporations. Diversity, merit and power are each defined and measured individually, then considered cumulatively, to provide fresh insights into the meaning of corporate power, who wields it and how it is obtained. This analysis is considered alongside the diversity narratives created by the FTSE 100 to frame their position on diversity. From this, the value of corporate ‘diversity speak’ is challenged, together with the regulatory requirements that result in its production.
Those studying or practising corporate law or management and anyone with an interest in corporate power will find this in-depth assessment thought-provoking and informative. From the book’s original vantage point, suggestions are made as to how and why we might seek a more balanced distribution of power in the boardroom.
Author(s): Eleanore Hickman
Series: Contemporary Studies in Corporate Law
Publisher: Hart Publishing
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 244
City: Oxford
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
1. Those Who Seek Power
1. Why the FTSE100 C-Suite?
2. An Overview of the Book and Methodology
3. Limitations
4. Conclusion
PART I: IN THEORY
2. C-Suite Diversity and its Antecedents
1. A Brief Look at Board Diversity Progress
2. Cultural Barriers to Diversity
3. Practical Barriers: Pipelines and Networks
4. Environmental Factors
5. Conclusion
3. Theories of Merit and Power
1. What is Merit in the C-Suite?
2. A Conceptual Framework for C-Suite Power
3. Conclusion
PART II: IN PRACTICE
4. Diversity
1. Collecting Diversity Data
2. Detail on Diversity
3. The Gender Pay Gap
4. Conclusion
5. Merit
1. The Appointment Process
2. The Merit Study
3. Conclusion
6. Power
1. Measuring Power
2. Structural Power
3. Ownership Power
4. Prestige Power
5. Conclusion
7. The Framing of Diversity and Merit in the Boardroom
1. FTSE100 Diversity Requirements: Then and Now
2. The Diversity Narrative Study
3. Conclusion
8. From Sweet Talkers to Deniers
1. Who is Sweet Talking? Interpreting Annual Reports
2. Assessing Statement Authenticity
3. Divergent Justifications for Diversity
4. Conclusion
PART III: CHOICES
9. Diversifying Power through Regulation
1. The UK Corporate Governance Code is not Working
2. Making the UK Corporate Governance Code Work
3. Hard Law Remedies
4. Conclusion
10. A Holistic Approach
1. Role Segregation
2. Mentoring
3. Corporate Culture
4. Abuse of Power
5. Stewardship and Diversity
6. Conclusion
11. Conclusion
1. Diversity in the Boardroom has Three Tracks
2. Higher Hurdles, Lower Rewards
3. Sweet Talking in the Annual Report
4. The Way Forward?
5. A Final Word
Bibliography
Index
