Assessing the State of Top Management Teams Research

Author(s):  
Steven A. Stewart ◽  
Allen C. Amason

Since the earliest days of strategic management research, scholars have sought to measure and model the effects of top managers on organizational performance. A watershed moment in this effort came with the 1984 introduction of Hambrick and Mason’s upper echelon view and their contention that firms are a reflection of their top management teams (TMT). An explosion of research followed and hundreds, if not thousands, of manuscripts have since been published on the subject. While a number of excellent reviews of this extensive literature exist, a relative few have asked questions about the overall state and future of the field. We undertook this assessment in an effort to answer some key questions. Are we still making progress on the big questions that gave rise to the upper echelon view, or have we reached a point of diminishing returns with this stream of research? If we are at an inflection point, what are the issues that should drive future inquiry about top management teams?

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadimas Diska ◽  
Albinas Marčinskas

Šiuolaikinės ekonomikos vystymosi sąlygomis, kai žinios tampa dominuojančiu veiksniu ir auga specialiųjų žinių vaidmuo bei žmogiškojo kapitalo reikšmė, plečiasi informacinių technologijų galimybės, pastebima vadybinės veiklos sudėtingėjimo tendencija. Būtent tiems, kurie vykdo vadybinę veiklą, tenka esminė užduotis paversti žinias ir švietimą tiesiogine visuomenės produktyvumo jėga, tikruoju visuomenės ir jos ekonomikos kapitalu. Straipsnyje pateikiama aukščiausio lygio vadovų ir jų komandų samprata bei vaidmens svarba organizacijose. Pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas aukščiausio lygio vadovų komandų teorinių ir empirinių tyrimų rezultatams, atskleidžiant šių komandų reikšmingumą įmonių veikloje žiniomis grindžiamos visuomenės iššūkių kontekste.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: žiniomis grindžiama visuomenė, aukščiausio lygio vadovai, aukščiausio lygio vadovų komanda.The role and impact of top management teams on organizations’ performance in the context of knowledge-based society  Vadimas Diska, Albinas Marčinskas SummaryThe most important issue in the article is how companies, because of great complexity and rather vague environmental conditions, knowledge-based society challenges, in order to stick to their position and gain competitive advantage, must be able to anticipate and react timely to external and internal environmental pressure and show an initiative to undergo changes. The nature of the organization’s reaction and efficiency depends on the top management team characteristics, structure, and potency.The article analyzes the conception of top management teams, their particularity, and the role they play in the organization. It is stressed that considering the role and importance of top management team in an organization, the scientists of strategic management and other fields much attention devote to their performance investigation. In their opinion, the organization’s top management team greatly impacts strategic trends and, therefore, is one of the main strategic resources (Castanias, Helfat, 1991; Michel, Hambrick, 1992; Finkelstein, Hambrick, 1996; Certo et al. 2006).The article stresses that the investigations of top management teams greatly developed in the 80’s of the last century; they were based on the “upper echelon“ theorical concept which illustrated different top management team aspects in the context of structure, decision making, and performance. In the previous “upper echelon“ investigations, while analysing the possible links between a top management team demographic characteristics and different organization results, the organizational demography approach prevailed. The performed investigations confirm the existing link between top management teams and organizational performance which is very important under conditions of rapid environmental changes.The article presents the main trends revealed in the scientific literature on the top management teams: team resources, team processes, managing team performance, and personal integration into the task. Therefore, it is important to have a better understanding of how top management teams impact organizational performance, not only to indentify the demographic indexes, but also to evaluate team and individual processes which function in top management teams. The investigation review has revealed that top management teams impact the research which was based on the “upper echelon“ theoretical concept, from the internal organizational level transcending to branch, country, international levels and encompassing different types of organizations – both in business and public sectors, and also organizations that are in different life cycle stages. On the basis of accomplished analysis, new problematic aspects of TMT have been revealed, which require more research.> 


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Aldona Glińska-Neweś ◽  
Adela Barabasz ◽  
Iwona Escher ◽  
Yusheng Fu

BACKGROUND: Top managers are heavily exposed to strong negative emotions due to the difficult decisive situations that they experience and the persistent pressure of time and uncertainty. At the same time, the relationships they build within TMTs shape their decisions, experiences and reactions at work. The paper refers to defence mechanisms as relatively persistent means of individual response to unwanted emotions and affects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the paper is to examine the defence mechanisms of TMT members as antecedents of perceived trustworthiness of other team members and positive relationships in the team. METHODS: The empirical study was conducted in a sample of 123 members of top management teams representing furniture industry companies in Poland. RESULTS: The results show that defence mechanisms determine TMT members’ perception of trustworthiness of other team-members and that perceived trustworthiness mediates the relation between the defence mechanisms of TMT members and their evaluation of relationships within a team. CONCLUSIONS: The study explains links between individual characteristics of TMT members and processes within the teams. It contributes to upper echelon theory and literature on trust and positive relationships at work. It also contributes to the line of research introducing unconscious processes and emotions to management studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Mercedes Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
Ana I. Gaspar-González ◽  
Eva M. Sánchez-Teba

This study contributes to the dissemination of the theoretical and empirical knowledge on the Upper Echelons Theory, considering training and demographic diversity in Top Management Teams (TMTs) as a unique feature of companies, in our case, the IBEX 35 companies. Based on the results, we can confirm that the inclusion of women in management teams positively influences the sales of a company and contributes to increasing financial results. Age and knowledge of two or more languages are important factors in achieving an increase in financial performance. From the point of view of business practice, the results obtained are useful for increasing knowledge of which TMT characteristics are valid, which allows for better results and the establishment of responsible organizational policies that promote the inclusion of gender diversity in TMTs. In addition, the results of this study indicate that the incorporation of members of other non-Spanish nationalities would constitute a distinctive feature of a company and would enrich it not only financially, but also culturally.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Rose N. Mkalama ◽  
Vincent N. Machuki

The study investigated the influence of top management demographics on the performance of Kenyan state corporations. Through a cross sectional descriptive survey, data was obtained from 96 Kenyan state corporations using a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings indicated that top management demographics had a statistically significant influence on the performance of Kenyan state corporations. The study contributes to the upper echelons theory and resource based theory. Policy makers will also benefit in ensuring that the aspects of top management demographics are properly mainstreamed in order to achieve high organizational performance. Managers who are in charge of attracting the top management teams in organizations will benefit in understanding the importance of having top managers with the right demographics in order to drive strategy. Based on the limitations of the study, areas for future research have been highlighted.


Author(s):  
Majdi Anwar Quttainah

In this paper, we argue that community plays an important role in shaping the values and characteristics of top management teams. It builds on upper echelon theory to posit that community level characteristics are instrumental in framing the cognitions of CEOs and top executives. Strategic decisions made by managers in organizations represent the significant impact community has on top management teams. Examining the influence community has on top management teams provides additional implications about why certain firms perform better than others.


Author(s):  
Güven Alpay ◽  
Pinar Büyükbalci

This chapter discusses the theoretical framework covering the relationship between top management team diversity determinants and certain organization-level variables in order to capture the essence of possible strategic outcomes. Accordingly, it attempts to summarize and clarify the theoretical and empirical literature regarding the effects of diversity on the functioning of top management teams. In this sense, the main aim of this study is to contribute to and improve the current literature on diversity through the viewpoint of strategic international business literature by directly focusing on the organizational unit—top management teams—which is responsible for formulating and implementing strategies that will leverage organizational performance in the long run.


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