DO BOARD COMMITTEES AFFECT CORPORATE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE? EVIDENCE FROM LISTED COMPANIES IN GHANA (Published)
This research has examined the effect of board committees on corporate financial performance among companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). The quantitative research approach was adopted to study the prognostic effect of board committee on corporate financial performance for companies consistently listed on the GSE from 2006-2010. Data was sourced from annual reports of listed companies and a static panel regression model was employed to analyze the presence of various committees on corporate financial performance. The results indicated that board committees had no statistical significant effect on the corporate financial performance of listed firms. Specifically, nomination committee regressed negatively on corporate financial performance but was statistically insignificant at the 5% level, with audit committee having no effect whiles remuneration committee predicted positively but also not statistically significant on corporate financial performance. The outcome suggests that the internal workings of corporate boards were weak implying that the effective supervision expected of these committees in terms of executive recruitment, succession planning, internal control, effective financial reporting, and the fixation of executive remuneration are lacking. The author recommends that board committees be strengthen with capable outside directors, skillful in the various technical areas to assist committees deliver on their responsibilities by instituting transparent selection processes. Listed firms must also desist from the selection of outside directors because they will sustain the dominance of the board to a more strategic selection approach where outside directors exercise unflinching oversight responsibility to enable firms reach their long-term goals.
Keywords: Corporate Governance, board committees, corporate financial performance