What Makes Good Governance Work? Ownership, Incentives and European Competitiveness | Live, Vilnius
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What makes one governance model a source of competitive strength – and another simply a set of rules?
Across Europe, boards are being asked to deliver more at once: long-term value, resilience, responsible leadership and competitiveness, while navigating growing regulatory pressure and geopolitical uncertainty. Yet good governance is not only about structures and compliance. It is also about who holds power, how boards and executives work together, what leaders are incentivised to achieve, and whether governance ultimately enables companies to perform and invest.
This special BMI Board Network event will bring together international research, European boardroom perspectives and Lithuanian governance experience to ask a fundamental question: what actually makes good governance work?
Starting with the Nordic model
The evening will open with an impulse by Lars Ohnemus, PhD, entitled “The Nordic Corporate Governance Model – A Lighthouse for the Baltics.”
Drawing on his research into the Nordic corporate governance model, Lars will explore what makes the Nordic approach distinctive – from active ownership and board practices to the role of strong institutions and high levels of trust.
The key question will be what the Baltics can realistically learn from this model. Which principles can be transferred to Lithuania and the wider region, and which depend on a broader institutional and cultural environment that is much harder to replicate?
Lars’ presentation will set the scene for a wider discussion on governance, ownership and competitiveness in the Baltic and European context.
From governance model to boardroom reality
Following the presentation, Lars will be joined by Andrew Hobbs, EY EMEIA Center for Board Matters Leader and EMEIA Public Policy Leader, and a leading Lithuanian board professional for a moderated discussion moving from governance systems to the decisions boards make in practice.
The conversation will explore questions including:
- What can European and Lithuanian boards genuinely learn from Nordic governance – and what cannot simply be transplanted?
- Are today’s governance and regulatory frameworks helping European companies compete, or increasingly pushing boards towards compliance rather than value creation?
- Are boards incentivising the right things? How should remuneration, performance expectations and CEO evaluation balance short-term results with long-term value, resilience and responsible risk-taking?
- Where should accountability ultimately sit between shareholders, boards, executives and regulators – particularly when companies are operating in an increasingly uncertain environment?
Rather than looking for a single “best” governance model, the discussion will examine what makes governance effective in context – and what boards themselves can do to turn governance from a control mechanism into a source of stronger decision-making and competitive advantage.
Speakers
Lars Ohnemus, PhD
Director, Center for Corporate Governance, Copenhagen Business School | Co-founder and Chairman, parent company of Northern Horizon Capital AS | Board Member, BMI Executive Institute
Lars Ohnemus combines academic expertise in corporate governance with extensive international executive and board experience. He is Director of the Center for Corporate Governance at Copenhagen Business School and has held board and executive positions in both listed and privately held companies. With more than 25 years of experience in real estate and investment, his work bridges governance research, ownership and practical board leadership.
Lars is also a Board Member of BMI Executive Institute and a faculty member of BMI’s Board Leadership and Governance programme, bringing a close connection between his academic work, board practice and BMI’s executive education community.
Daina Kleponė, PhD
Professor at Vilnius Tech University, Member of the Supervisory Board at ILTE, EMBA Alumna, BMI Executive Institute
Daina brings more than 25 years of C-suite and board-level leadership experience across finance, insurance, retail and technology in Lithuania and internationally.
She currently serves on the Supervisory Board of Lithuania’s national development bank and previously led Enterprise Lithuania, where she worked closely with high-growth companies on investment readiness, access to capital and business development. Her governance experience also includes board and executive roles at Lietuvos Draudimas, Audimas, Baltika Group and Lyoness Europe.
Alongside her executive career, Daina is a Research Fellow at Vilnius Tech University. Her academic work focuses on startup financing, capital structure and innovation ecosystems, giving her a strong academic-practitioner perspective on governance, incentives and competitiveness.
Andrew Hobbs
Partner, EMEIA Center for Board Matters Leader, EY
Andrew Hobbs leads the EY EMEIA Center for Board Matters and EY’s EMEIA Public Policy team. His work focuses on the issues shaping board agendas across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, including corporate governance, corporate reporting, technology, talent and the evolving regulatory environment.
He will bring a wider European perspective to the discussion: how board priorities are changing, how regulation is influencing corporate governance, and what boards need to consider as they balance oversight, risk and long-term competitiveness.
Moderator
Prof. Dr. Marc Steffen Rapp
Professor, Philipps-Universität Marburg | Visiting Professor, BMI Executive Institute
The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Marc Steffen Rapp, a professor of Business Administration at Philipps-Universität Marburg and a visiting professor at BMI Executive Institute. His research focuses on corporate governance, ownership, management incentives, corporate finance and capital allocation.
Marc is also a member of the programme committee of the 25th Workshop on Corporate Governance and Investment.
Part of the 25th Workshop on Corporate Governance and Investment
This BMI Board Network special edition will also serve as the opening event of the 25th Workshop on Corporate Governance and Investment (WCGI), taking place at BMI Executive Institute in Vilnius on 24–26 September 2026.
This year’s workshop is dedicated to “Corporate Governance and Investment in Times of Geopolitical Uncertainty”, bringing together international researchers to examine how boards, ownership structures, executive incentives, regulation and capital markets shape corporate decisions in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment. The opening event is specifically designed to connect corporate governance research with boardroom practice, before the academic sessions continue on Friday and Saturday.
The workshop is hosted by BMI Executive Institute in collaboration with the Nordic Finance and the Good Society project conducted by the Center for Corporate Governance at Copenhagen Business School.
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