Bev Edlin is one of only a few New Zealanders to complete a PhD in governance. Photo / George Novak
The key focus of Bev Edlin's work over the past 15 years has been on the determinants of effective governance.
One of only a few New Zealanders to complete a PhD in governance, her doctoral thesis was one of the first to examine behaviour in the boardroom and has practical applications to her continued work with boards.
Dr Edlin, an elected councillor for Tauranga City, is an executive director of Governance360 and Valeo International, which focus on enabling board members to govern more effectively through training and mentoring programmes. She also sits on several boards and is a deputy chairwoman of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Bay of Plenty.
"The areas I zoomed in on for my thesis were those which stood out to make a board most effective," said Dr Edlin.
She sat in at meetings and interviewed members of the Meridian Power board over the course of a year in researching her PhD and compared them with other boards.
"It wasn't just a matter of gender balance or whether the board represented the whole organisation - it was more important that you had diversity, and then you really got critical thinking, not just one opinion."
In particular it was important the chief executive and the chairman worked together in a complementary fashion.
Dr Edlin, born and brought up in the Wellington area, has never been a full-time student. She returned to studies after her children had grown up. In 1996, she completed a bachelor of business studies at Massey, with a double major in innovation and small business, and in marketing.
Two years later, she completed a master of business administration, with a thesis on small business and chartered accountancy services.
She had an intimate knowledge of her MBA subject, having served from 1994 to 2006 as director/general manager of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Previous roles have included working on national product development for New Zealand Post, which included developing and launching products such as BoxLink and CourierPost, and working as southern regional manager of New Zealand Document Exchange, which involved creating a national mail distribution network, including 48 delivery points and five regional offices in nine months. She has also held senior roles at Philips New Zealand, Mainzeal Group and Marac Holdings.
After completing her MBA, she was invited by Massey University to join a new "practical" doctorate programme.
"I started off thinking I would continue looking at small businesses," said Dr Edlin.
But she changed direction after realising that the academic view of governance didn't match her practical business understanding of the subject. "I realised governance had gone down a very compliance path."
She was the only one of nine on the programme to finish her doctorate, which was awarded in 2007 for her thesis Corporate Governance: Determinants of effective decision-making.
Her current work includes running courses in conjunction with Massey University, including running the university's MBA governance module in Tauranga. She also consults to the IoD, NZICA, Chamber of Commerce and for private and public organisations and works with companies on board evaluations.
Dr Edlin serves on a number of commercial and not-for-profit boards as well as on community trusts.
Karen Haugh, who has worked with Dr Edlin, described her as someone who went beyond the call of duty for the companies she mentored.
"Bev is very straight up - she calls a spade a spade. But she delves into underlying issues and problems to help companies out and gets the best out of people."
Extensive range of interests
Dr Bev Edlin lived for two decades in Whakatane on an orchard, moving to Tauranga in 2012, a few years after her husband died of cancer.
"I love to read, I love to swim, I like to walk, and to potter in the garden," says Dr Edlin, who has a daughter and two grandchildren in Tauranga, and a son in Auckland.
She devotes a lot of personal time to interests such as chairing the board of DANZ, which promotes dance in New Zealand, and also serves on the board of the Kia Magic netball team and the YMCA. "I try to give my time to organisations where I have an interest as well as trying to help them."
Bev Edlin
Roles include: executive director, Boardroom360 & Valeo International; Tauranga city councillor
Born: Wellington, New Zealand
First job: office administrator
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