Board scholarship has generally taken the perspective that when it comes to board expertise, more is better. This study, in contrast, explores contingencies that may stretch board experience beyond the limits of its usefulness. We integrate insights from extant research in board leadership and international strategy to identify and test internal and external contextual factors that can limit the effectiveness of boards' international experience. Exploring this in the context of cross‐border M&As, we find evidence that the positive effects of boards' international experience are attenuated when the CEO lacks such knowledge, and when the institutional distance between the home and target countries is high. Overall, our findings suggest the need to exercise caution in viewing board expertise as a “panacea” of board effectiveness.

中文翻译：

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董事会的相关经验和国际战略：成功的秘诀还是过多的厨师？

董事会奖学金通常认为，就董事会专业知识而言，越多越好。相比之下，本研究探讨了可能会使董事会经验超出其使用范围的突发事件。我们将来自现有研究的洞察力整合到董事会领导和国际战略中，以识别和测试可能限制董事会国际经验有效性的内部和外部环境因素。在跨国并购的背景下对此进行探讨，我们发现有证据表明，当首席执行官缺乏此类知识，并且本国与目标国家之间的制度距离很高时，董事会国际经验的积极作用就会减弱。总体而言，我们的发现表明，在将董事会专业知识视为董事会效力的“灵丹妙药”时，必须谨慎行事。