Cognition and corporate governance: Understanding boards of directors as strategic decision-making groups

Recent research developments underscore the need for research on the proces ses that link board demography with firm performance. In this article we de velop a model of board processes by integrating the literature on boards of directors with the literature on group dynamics and workgroup effectivenes s. The resulting model illuminates the complexity of board dynamics and pav es the way for future empirical research that expands and refines our under standing of what makes boards effective.