The Role of Chief Executive Officer

Abstract

OF DISSERTATION THE ROLE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERThe purpose of this study was to address the gap between what is reported in the literature and what is known in current practice on the role of CEO. Research on the role of CEO is conflicting and outdated, and the theory deduced by Mintzberg in the 1970s has not been continually refined and updated, a necessary process for maintaining the usefulness of a theory (Lynham, 2002). A major goal of this research was to use the insights provided by CEOs to improve our general understanding of the major roles played by CEOs and how they generally allocate their time in various critical functions.CEOs are known for being a difficult population to research, yet this study has shown they are not inaccessible.This research was also intended to serve those responsible for identifying CEO candidates, recruiting CEOs, coaching CEOs, sustaining an organization's leadership system, and developing performance matrices for Boards of Directors who are ultimately responsible for making sure the CEO is effective and efficient.To investigate the role of CEO a survey instrument was developed based on 31 roles identified in the literature. The survey was sent to CEOs selected from a purchased database by e-mail. The study focused on three research questions with the purpose of

The Agency of the Principal–Agent Relationship: An Opportunity for HRD

“…Within this body of work in HRD-related literature listed in Table 1, Swanson (2008) described the relationship of a principal and agent to help initiate the groundwork for research by HRD professionals of agency behavior and nonagency behaviors. Following were proposals for using the utility of agency theory to explain training and development outcomes (Azevedo & Akdere, 2008, 2010, 2011Li & Huang, 2011). The empirical studies conducted and published within the HRD-related literature identified in this review described the limitations of their studies to application to the case and sample studied due to the sample size or specificity of the participants and respondents (Alammar & Pauleen, 2015;Blakeley & Higgs, 2014;Glick, 2011;Liu, Valenti, & Chen, 2016;O'Reilly, Doerr, Caldwell, & Chatman, 2014;Petrescu & Simmons, 2008;Rusaw & Rusaw, 2008;Singh, 2003).…”

Lifting the veil: Seeking and contesting authenticity in CEO work

“…Henry Mintzberg (1973) noted in his seminal studies in North America that the work of top executives-and CEOs in particularwas complex and multifaceted. On the basis of his structured method of observing executives at work, Mintzberg laid the groundwork for identifying a variety of CEO roles; informational, interpersonal, decisional, strategic, operational and diplomatic (see Glick, 2011, for an overview). Playing the deck of CEO roles a little differently, Hart and Quinn (1993) examined connections between different (and, according to the authors, competing) roles and various indicators of firm performance.…”

“…CEO roles in the Swedish context also included a commitment to building what is commonly referred to as organizational culture. With a focus on USAbased organizations, Glick (2011) found that CEOs most often viewed themselves as leaders. Decisional and strategic roles were also high on their agenda.…”

“…We know from the surprisingly thin literature on what CEOs do that it varies between industries, businesses and company size. CEOs are inclined to take up a variety of roles in their work (Glick, 2011;Hart & Quinn, 1993;Mintzberg, 1973Mintzberg, , 1994Tengblad, 2006). They attempt to strike a balance between spending time with organizational members and outside constituencies, and while there is pressure for the latter, it is often more productive to spend some more time with the former (Bandiera, Guiso, Prat & Sadun, 2011).…”

Celebrity Chief Executive Officers Influence on Firm Performance: A Review of Theory and Evidence

“…Glick [31] while quoting Edersheim [32] notes that CEOs may lead companies with extremely significant economies to success. He further notes that not only can these CEOs influence the course of their companies, employees, and markets but also in some cases, influence the course of entire countries and regions of the world [33,34].…”