Although board independence and gender diversity are recognized as globally accepted good governance norms, firms’ conformance to these norms varies widely within and across countries. This variation suggests complex underlying factors. Drawing on actor-centered institutionalism, we explore how international business actors interact to shape firms’ decisions to conform to both, either one, or neither of the governance norms. Adopting a configurational approach, we analyze 4257 firms across 38 countries in 2020. Our results uncover heterogeneous combinations of institutional and firm-level factors that drive varied governance outcomes. Our findings emphasize the principle of equifinality and asymmetry, demonstrating that multiple configurations can lead to similar governance outcomes and factors affecting conformance are not necessarily the same factors affecting non-conformance. These findings further highlight the power dynamics of multiple actors co-existing at institutional and firm levels, which simultaneously affect the willingness and ability of firms to conform. This study contributes to the comparative governance literature by illustrating how shareholders, labor, state, and society-at-large actors interact to shape diverse configurations of conformance responses across and within institutions. Moreover, we stress the agentic roles of firms and their owners (i.e., family and state ownership) in conjunction with other institutional actors, emphasizing their interconnected influence on governance practices within broader international business trends. Furthermore, our results challenge the notion of a universal governance model by showing the potential trade-off between the two good governance norms through a joint analysis. Finally, we contribute to discussions on governance norm diffusion by demonstrating that the adoption of good governance practices is an ongoing process. Not all firms are influenced in the same way by global pressures.
