Do CEOs Matter to Firm Strategic Actions and Firm Performance? A Meta-Analytic Investigation Based on Upper Echelons Theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 775-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Wang ◽  
R. Michael Holmes ◽  
In-Sue Oh ◽  
Weichun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Analytic Investigation ◽  
Strategic Actions ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory

scholarly journals Top management team diversity and firm performance: Empirical evidence from the fashion and luxury industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Rocco Cambrea ◽  
Giorgia Lussana ◽  
Fabio Quarato ◽  
Paola Varacca Capello
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory

The purpose of this study is to advance the current understanding of the relationship between top management team (TMT) diversity and firm performance in the fashion and luxury industries. Predictions from the relevant theoretical perspectives – namely, Upper Echelons and Social Psychology theories – are often conflicting, and the controversial nature of this phenomenon together with the lack of empirical studies in the fashion and luxury industries have inspired the research question to investigate the link between TMT diversity and firm performance. Moreover, this is even more relevant in a setting where human capital management is one of the main keys to the long-term survival of fashion and luxury brands. To this extent, a principal component analysis and subsequent regression analyses have been performed on a sample of 78 listed companies operating in the fashion and luxury industries, over the five-year period 2011-2015. Results indicate that TMTs with greater gender, international experience, and educational background diversity are positively associated with higher firm performance. Hence, we found support for the Upper Echelons Theory, which predicts organizational outcomes as a function of managerial characteristics, thus offering few practical implications for companies operating in these industries.

Top Management Team Surface-Level Diversity, Strategic Change, and Long-Term Firm Performance: A Mediated Model Investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wu ◽  
Orlando C. Richard ◽  
Xinhe Zhang ◽  
Craig Macaulay
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Surface Level ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory

Top management team (TMT) heterogeneity research has not yet clearly revealed whether surface-level diversity (i.e., national culture, gender, age) contributes to or detracts from a firm’s financial performance and has not focused on how strategic change frequency (number international diversification or refocusing activities) serves as an intervening mechanism. Based on a sample of 1,993 firms between 2003 and 2015, we examine the mediating role of strategic change frequency in the relationship between surface-level diversity and long-term firm performance. Grounded in the upper echelons perspective, we find that TMT surface-level diversity increases rather than decreases strategic change frequency. Furthermore, our results are consistent with our hypothesized positive relationship between strategic change frequency and long-term firm performance. More important, we also find support for a longitudinal-based mediation model in which strategic change frequency in terms of diversification/refocusing actions (Time 2) transmits the positive effect of TMT surface-level diversity (Time 1) to long-term financial performance (Time 3) without accounting for any moderated conditions suggesting that mediation models warrant more utilization in the upper echelons research and internationalization research domains. Implications for the upper echelons theory in a more global world as if relates to the often unexplored surface-level diversity are offered.

scholarly journals Competitive Repertoire Complexity: A Potential Mediator in the Upper Echelons Propositions?

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Patriciah G. Mwangi ◽  
Zachary B. Awino ◽  
Kennedy O. Ogollah ◽  
Ganesh P. Pokhariyal
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Processing Theory

This study sought to evaluate the relationships between top management team (TMT) heterogeneity, competitive repertoire complexity and firm performance. The study was grounded on the upper echelons theory which argues that the TMT characteristics affect the organization’s performance through their influence on strategic choices. This study sought to investigate this relationship using the complete array of strategies deployed by heterogeneous TMTs. The study was conducted through a cross sectional descriptive survey of 53 large food and beverage manufacturers in Kenya. Primary data and secondary data was collected through a structured questionnaire and checklist respectively and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that TMT heterogeneity had a significant negative effect on financial, internal processes and social performance in line with the upper echelons theory. Competitive repertoire complexity was not associated with TMT heterogeneity and did not significantly mediate the relationship between TMT heterogeneity and firm performance as expected from the information processing theory. This study contributed to the strategic management field by providing empirical evidence to the upper echelons and resource based view. Managers would benefit by careful consideration of how their TMTs were designed. Policy makers would also be aware about the competitive actions they adopted and their effect on their organizations performance.

Charismatic leadership at the strategic level: A new application of upper echelons theory

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A Waldman ◽  
Mansour Javidan ◽  
Paul Varella
Keyword(s):  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory

Strategic Directions for AI: The Role of CIOs and Boards of Directors

MIS Quarterly ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 1603-1644
Author(s):  
Jingyu Li ◽  
◽  
Mengxiang Li ◽  
Xincheng Wang ◽  
Jason Bennett Thatcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Chief Information Officers ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Strategic Direction ◽  
New Business ◽  
Post Hoc

This paper applies upper echelons theory to investigate whether chief information officers (CIOs) and boards of directors affect the development of AI orientation, which represents firms’ overall strategic direction and goals regarding the introduction and application of artificial intelligence (AI)technology. We tested our model using a dataset drawn from 1,454 publicly listed firms in China. Our findings show that the presence of a CIO positively influences AI orientation and that board educational diversity, R&D experience, and AI experience positively moderate the CIO’s effect on AI orientation. Our post hoc analysis further demonstrates that these board characteristics represent contingencies that impact AI orientation but not conventional IT orientation. This paper contributes to the upper echelons literature and IT management research by offering contextualized arguments that explain new business and IT strategies such as AI orientation. Further, our findings suggest important implications about how to build top management teams and boards capable of effectively developing AI orientations

Upper Echelons Theory

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Herman ◽  
Brett Smith
Keyword(s):  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory

scholarly journals Muslim CEO, women on boards and corporate responsibility reporting: some evidence from Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Absdulsamad Alazzani ◽  
Wan Nordin Wan-Hussin ◽  
Michael Jones
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Women On Boards ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Csr Disclosure

PurposeVery limited research has been devoted to answering the question of whether the religious beliefs of the upper echelons of management and gender diversity have any impacts on the communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in the marketplace. This study aims to fill the void in the literature by posing the two research questions: first, does the CEO religion affect a firm’s CSR behaviour?; second, do the women on the boards influence CSR reporting?Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed the tests on a sample of 133 firms listed in Bursa Malaysia that have analysts following using a self-constructed CSR disclosure index based on information in annual reports in 2009. A total of 23 per cent of the sample firms have Muslim CEOs, and women made up only 8 per cent of board members.FindingsThe authors find that Muslim CEOs are significantly associated with greater disclosure of CSR information. The authors also find a moderate relationship between board gender diversity and CSR disclosure. This is probably because of insufficient number of women on boards.Research limitations/implicationsThe disclosure index is based on unsubstantiated CSR information provided in annual reports, and the authors examine only two aspects of board diversity, namely, Muslim religiosity and gender mix.Originality/valueThis study advances the research on upper echelons theory by illuminating the importance of religious value in influencing the CSR behaviour of corporate leaders. This has been largely overlooked because of lack of data.

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