Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?

Abstract Our study delved into an analysis of 128 public companies in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria to explore the influence of diversified board expertise on firm performance. We also investigated the impact of firm size and age on this relationship. Our results indicate that a varied blend of professi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Felix Kwabena Danso, Michael Adusei, Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah, Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-08-01
Series:Future Business Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-024-00386-6
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849309783891378176
author Felix Kwabena Danso
Michael Adusei
Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah
Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh
author_facet Felix Kwabena Danso
Michael Adusei
Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah
Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh
author_sort Felix Kwabena Danso
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Our study delved into an analysis of 128 public companies in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria to explore the influence of diversified board expertise on firm performance. We also investigated the impact of firm size and age on this relationship. Our results indicate that a varied blend of professional experts on corporate boards significantly boosts a company's ROA, although there is no significant effect when Tobin's Q measures firm performance. Nevertheless, we discovered that combining firm size and age negatively impacts the correlation between board expertise diversity and firm performance. Our findings support the significance of integrating agency, resource dependence, and convergence theories, implying that businesses can improve their financial performance by including an appropriate mix of expertise on their boards, especially for relatively younger small-sized firms. In contrast, more prominent and ageing firms may not see the same financial benefits. Consequently, we recommend that corporate executives and practitioners consider implementing board expertise diversity to enhance their firms' financial performance.
format Article
id doaj-art-1ddba95dcd134ccea2d602ea49d31dac
institution Kabale University
issn 2314-7202
2314-7210
language English
publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series Future Business Journal
spelling doaj-art-1ddba95dcd134ccea2d602ea49d31dac2025-08-20T03:53:58ZengSpringerOpenFuture Business Journal2314-72022314-72102024-08-0110112010.1186/s43093-024-00386-6Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?Felix Kwabena Danso0Michael Adusei1Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah2Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh3Sunyani Technical UniversityBusiness School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyKwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologySunyani Technical UniversityAbstract Our study delved into an analysis of 128 public companies in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria to explore the influence of diversified board expertise on firm performance. We also investigated the impact of firm size and age on this relationship. Our results indicate that a varied blend of professional experts on corporate boards significantly boosts a company's ROA, although there is no significant effect when Tobin's Q measures firm performance. Nevertheless, we discovered that combining firm size and age negatively impacts the correlation between board expertise diversity and firm performance. Our findings support the significance of integrating agency, resource dependence, and convergence theories, implying that businesses can improve their financial performance by including an appropriate mix of expertise on their boards, especially for relatively younger small-sized firms. In contrast, more prominent and ageing firms may not see the same financial benefits. Consequently, we recommend that corporate executives and practitioners consider implementing board expertise diversity to enhance their firms' financial performance.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-024-00386-6Diversity of expertiseFirm performanceConvergence theorySub-Saharan AfricaFirm sizeAge
spellingShingle Felix Kwabena Danso
Michael Adusei
Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah
Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh
Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
Future Business Journal
Diversity of expertise
Firm performance
Convergence theory
Sub-Saharan Africa
Firm size
Age
title Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
title_full Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
title_fullStr Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
title_full_unstemmed Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
title_short Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?
title_sort board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub saharan africa do firm age and size matter
topic Diversity of expertise
Firm performance
Convergence theory
Sub-Saharan Africa
Firm size
Age
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-024-00386-6
work_keys_str_mv AT felixkwabenadanso boardexpertisediversityandfirmperformanceinsubsaharanafricadofirmageandsizematter
AT michaeladusei boardexpertisediversityandfirmperformanceinsubsaharanafricadofirmageandsizematter
AT beatricesarpongdanquah boardexpertisediversityandfirmperformanceinsubsaharanafricadofirmageandsizematter
AT kwadwoboatengprempeh boardexpertisediversityandfirmperformanceinsubsaharanafricadofirmageandsizematter