Signals and structures : the politics of corporate governance in Slovenia

Dvorski, Katarina (author), Lahovnik, Matej (author), Hruška, Domagoj (author)

In Slovenia’s boardrooms, governance is less a fixed blueprint than a living performance. Drawing on a decade of data from 24 public companies, we identify two distinct yet coexisting governance logics: identity-based, oriented toward symbolic compliance, and activity-based, linked to operational performance. Using factor analysis and hypothesis testing, we find that even moderate levels of state ownership are associated with stronger symbolic governance practices, while national elections prompt visible legitimacy signalling without substantive structural reform. Performance-oriented governance remains comparatively muted, suggesting that legitimacy concerns often outweigh efficiency in shaping board structures and practices. The Slovenian case illustrates how governance reforms—anchored in EU norms, sustainability frameworks, and market liberalisation—layer over, rather than replace, older institutional logics. The result is a hybrid governance form that is adaptive, performative, and politically attuned. These dynamics highlight how, in politicised markets, firms actively manage perceptions to maintain stability, often privileging visible conformity over operational change—an approach that deserves closer scrutiny from policymakers, investors, and scholars.

• Language: English
• Keywords: corporate governance, financial institutions, ownership, Slovenia, institutional logics, activity-based logics, identity-based logics, state ownership, political cycles
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 1-29
• Numbering: Vol. 31, iss. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181398
• UDC: 332.1
• ISSN on article: 1331-0194
• DOI: 10.30924/mjcmi.31.1.1
• COBISS.SI-ID: 269939715
• Publication date in RUL: 03.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Management : journal of contemporary management issues
• Shortened title: Management
• Publisher: University of Split, Faculty of Economics
• ISSN: 1331-0194
• COBISS.SI-ID: 3757084

Licences

• License: CC BY-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
• Description: Under the NoDerivatives Creative Commons license one can take a work released under this license and re-distribute it, but it cannot be shared with others in adapted form, and credit must be provided to the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Croatian
• Title: Signali i strukture : Poličitka dimenzija korporativnog upravljanja u Sloveniji

Abstract

U slovenskim korporacijama, odnosi unutar upravljačkih struktura rjeđe se doživljavaju kao jasan i unaprijed definiran plan aktivnosti, a češće kao proces koji se stalno razvija i prilagođava okolnostima. Analiza desetogodišnjih podataka iz 24 javnih dioničkih društava otkriva dvije istodobno prisutne logike upravljanja: jednu, temeljenu na identitetu i usmjerenju prema simboličkoj usklađenosti, te drugu, utemeljenu na aktivnostima i usmjerenju prema operativnoj učinkovitosti. Primjenom faktorske analize utvrdili smo da državno vlasništvo, čak i na umjerenim razinama, snažnije predviđa simboličke prakse upravljanja, dok nacionalni izbori potiču vidljivo signaliziranje legitimnosti bez odgovarajuće strukturne reforme. Upravljačke prakse usmjerene na rezultate ostaju relativno prigušene, što sugerira da briga za legitimitet često nadilazi učinkovitost u oblikovanju struktura i praksi upravljačkih tijela.. Slovenski slučaj pokazuje kako se reformski okvir korporativnog upravljanja, ukorijenjen u normama EU-a, temeljenima na održivosti i tržišnoj liberalizaciji, nadograđuje na postojeće institucionalne logike, umjesto da ih zamijeni. Rezultat je hibridni oblik upravljanja koji je adaptivan, izvedben i politički usklađen. Ova dinamika pokazuje kako u politiziranim tržištima poduzeća aktivno upravljaju percepcijama radi održavanja stabilnosti, često dajući prednost vidljivoj usklađenosti nad operativnim promjenama što je pristup koji zaslužuje dublju analizu od strane arhitekata javnih politika, investitora i istraživača.

• Keywords: korporativno upravljanje, institucionalne logike, logike temeljene na aktivnostima, logike temeljene na identitetu, državno vlasništvo, politički ciklusi, Slovenija