Oordelen zonder oogkleppen: De rol van het informatieproces in de kwaliteit van oordelen door toezichthouders in semipublieke organisaties

Abstract

Semi-public organizations play an important role in public services in the Netherlands. Citizens rely on their services throughout their lives, including healthcare, culture, childcare, education, and housing. Supervisory boards monitor the management and these organizations. It is a part-time role, non-executive directors (members of the supervisory boards) are not present daily and often depend on information from the CEO. Semi-public organizations increasingly operate in complex and dynamic environments, requiring non-executive directors to consider various interests and criteria in their decision-making. Previous studies show that supervisory boards often face challenges, especially with information provision. This makes well-informed (or high-quality) judgments by non-executive directors complex and vulnerable. This dissertation examines how non-executive directors can make well-informed judgments on important issues based on the information available. The research indicates that non-executive directors make better judgments when they also gather information themselves, leading to more diverse information. However, in practice, this often does not happen because non-executive directors tend to socialize and have a trust-based relationship with the CEO. Proactively gathering information from other sources can, in some cases, disrupt the trust-based relationship. Additionally, the study shows that confirmation bias poses a risk that can hinder well-informed decision-making. This research provides important recommendations for non-executive directors to achieve well-informed judgments through a good information process.