The Social/Behavioral Construction of Employees as Strategic Actors on Company Boards of Directors

Abstract

In this article, the authors try to develop a theoretical frame of reference to help us understand the social construction of employees as strategic company actors on boards of directors. In 1973, the Danish Parliament passed an act granting employees the right to elect two members to sit on a company's board of directors. The authors attempt to understand the processes by which employee representatives infused this institutional form with meaning through a process of identity construction. This construction process draws on general cultural forms in the Danish society, primarily the institution of democracy. However, the authors' focus is on the board level. They observe that employee representatives come to share with their board colleagues, the representatives of capital, a market or company strategic perspective on board decision making, simultaneously maintaining the perspective of employee interests. This article is based on a series of in-depth analyses of company boards and interviews with a number of directors.