Board involvement in strategic decision-making: The case of Rwandan cooperatives

Board involvement in strategy is a long-standing issue in board research. This study empirically explores board involvement in strategic decision-making within Rwandan cooperatives, focusing on whether and how the democratic governance of these organizations affects how the board involves itself in the strategic decision-making process. Through two in-depth case studies, we demonstrate how the boards assume a different role in strategic decision-making compared to what the prior literature based on investor-owned organizations recognizes. We conceptualize this as a mediating board role, in which the board acts as an embedded go-between for information and proposals between different levels of the cooperative, while simultaneously attempting to reconcile conflicting views. We also show how this role is adapted to the specific characteristics of cooperatives. The study contributes theoretical insight into how ownership form matters for board involvement in strategy and empirical insight into board work in Rwandan cooperatives.