The question of whether it is advantageous for a corporation to add a former politician or ex-
St. FX University Business Professor Dr. Mark Fuller
government official to its board is the subject of a new article co-authored by a St. FX Business professor Mark Fuller. Fuller says the article, published recently in the open access journal Corporate Board: Role, Duties and Composition suggests opinions on whether to recruit retired political and government leaders are mixed among those sitting on corporate boards. Fuller says they surveyed 82 Canadian board members and followed up with in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 of them.
The findings suggest that firms in heavily-regulated industries, companies that sell a lot to government and frequently interact with foreign governments, may benefit from having a former politician or ex-government official on their board. Still, 61 per cent of respondents preferred a board without former government representatives.
Fuller co-authored the article with Chris Bart from the Caribbean Governance Training Institute.