13.1 Introduction

This study has researched whether the attention paid to board and director independence is overrated, based on the economic theory, a legal comparison between the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden, and behavioural science. In order to approach this main research question, three research questions have been formulated about the definition, aim and consequences of independence. These research questions are addressed in three interdependent parts of Figure 13-1: economic, legal and behavioural. The economic part is primarily concerned with the definition of independence and what constitutes board and director independence. Additionally, it approaches the aim of independence in five different theoretical frameworks. Furthermore, the relationship between independence and performance is investigated to give a conclusion about the consequences of independence. The legal part researches the legal frameworks of independence in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden. The strong and weak points of the person, composition/structure and preconditions building blocks of independence are investigated and best practices are derived.

Figure 13-1: Threefold research approach.

The behavioural part shows the influence of national culture on levels of board independence and the importance attributed to independence in a country. In addition, the impact of social relationships between supervisors and executive directors and members of the management (board) is addressed. These social relationships are generally considered to have a negative influence on independence, but there are benefits as well. The link between groupthink and independence is also investigated in the behavioural part. Finally, the views of supervisory directors in the Netherlands on social relationships is investigated by means of a survey.

This chapter proceeds with conclusions and recommendations that are based on the considerations of each chapter. Sections 13.2 until 13.4 answer the three research questions about the definition, aim and consequences of independence. Finally, section 13.5 answers the main research question.