Why do firms employ foreigners on their top management team? An exploration of strategic fit, human capital and attraction-selection-attrition perspectives

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabina Nielsen ◽  
Bo Bernhard Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Strategic Fit ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Top Executive ◽  
Board Level ◽  
Nationality Diversity

The number of foreigners appointed to top management teams has increased significantly over the past decade. However, the question of why some firms elect to employ foreign nationals in top executive positions remains unclear. This study tests competing explanations based on strategic fit, human capital and attraction—selection—attrition perspectives. Results from empirical tests utilizing a multi-level methodology on a sample of Swiss publicly listed companies suggest that degree of international diversification is positively associated with the likelihood of having a foreign executive, whereas human capital characteristics do not explain the propensity to employ a foreigner on the top management team. In addition, nationality diversity at the board level, as well as the international experience of the top management team, predict the probability of having a foreign top executive.

Using Causal Mapping to Uncover Cognitive Diversity within a Top Management Team

2005 ◽  
pp. 203-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Tegarden ◽  
Linda F. Tegarden ◽  
Steven D. Sheetz
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Cognitive Diversity ◽  
Causal Mapping ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Factions

The cognitive diversity of top management teams has been shown to affect the performance of a firm. In some cases, cognitive diversity has been shown to improve firm performance, in other cases, it has worsened firm performance. Either way, it is useful to understand the cognitive diversity of a top management team. However, most approaches to measure cognitive diversity never attempt to open the “black box” to understand what makes up the cognitive diversity of the team. This research reports on an approach that identifies diverse belief structures, i.e., cognitive factions, through the use of causal mapping and cluster analysis. The results show that the use of causal mapping provides an efficient and effective way to identify idiosyncratic and shared knowledge among members of a top management team. This approach allows the cognitive diversity of the top management team to not only to be uncovered, but also to be understood.

Top management team international experience and strategic decision-making

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar Azam ◽  
Cristina Boari ◽  
Fabiola Bertolotti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of top management team international experience on international strategic decision-making rationality and, subsequently, its effect on decision effectiveness (decision performance). Design/methodology/approach This analysis is based on survey data of small- and medium-sized international Pakistani firms operating in the IT industry. Findings Results show that top management team international experience is positively related to international strategic decision-making rationality, and the latter partially mediates the international experience – decision effectiveness relationship. Research limitations/implications The study is based on data collected from a single industry and focuses on an international decision that occurred within a time-frame of previous four years. Practical implications Findings suggest that international firms, when composing their top management teams, should favor the inclusion of internationally experienced managers. Originality/value The study of the influence of international experience on the decision-making process in general and decision-making rationality in particular has been largely neglected in extant literature. This paper highlights one way through which the international experience of the top management team as a whole relates to the effectiveness of international decisions. The paper also advances emergent managerial cognition literature focusing on the top management team and not individual decision makers.

scholarly journals Implications of theory and research on strategic leadership: a critical review

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-131
Author(s):  
Carlos Roberto Banzato ◽  
Julio Cesar Volpp Sierra
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Strategic Leadership ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
The Way

Strategic Leadership: Theory and Research on Executives, Top Management Teams, and Boards by Finkelstein, Hambrick and Canella Jr. (2009) is one of the most important references in strategy studies. This work is a critical review of this book and attempts to answer why organizations do what they do or play the way they play. In this paper, we review all eleven chapters that make up the book. We then suggest the implications of this theory on strategy and organizations. We also consider how this book affects the development of the field of study. The book offers considerable foundations for executives and serves as a reference for researchers who wish to understand the phenomenon related to strategic leadership, considering the CEO, Board and Top Management Team.  The major contribution of this paper is that it summarizes the theory and concepts of the book in a few pages and identifies the main characteristics, antecedents and consequences of leadership in organizations. 

scholarly journals Strategy patterns and corporate competitive advantage in hypercompetition

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Daraboš Longin
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Market Power ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Firm Response

Action aggressiveness is considered as a firm response to the phenomenon of temporary advantage. Firms able to respond quickly to market demands strengthen their market power and generate advantages; but those that can be even faster, will generate even greater market power and advantage over its competitors. However, there is no guarantee that competitive advantage achieved today will remain unchanged in the long run. The focus is on being prepared to take an action, i.e. the extent to which the firm is willing to participate with competitors and act quickly in the involvement and participation. The dynamics of top management is a very important component of the ability of the firm competitive behavior. The top management team is the kingpin that coordinates and mobilizes organizational resources and efforts for firms’ aggressive competitive engagement. The assumption of being more aggressive at the market and collaborative with competitors is the integration of top management of the firm that depends primarily on compatible traits and members’ communication skills. With a special focus on top management teams, this paper explores the extent to which firms’ certain strategic behavior in hypercompetitive industry can be related to gaining temporary competitive advantage, measured through improving its firm performance. The central goal of this research is to theoretically and empirically define and examine firms’ strategic behavior in hypercompetition through defining new taxonomy of strategy patterns, i.e. firm specific strategic behavior that provides and raises the probability of gaining the competitive advantage in hypercompetitive industries. An important contribution of this research is also reflected in the development of the model that analyze the influence of specific characteristics of top management team (TMT) on pattern firm uses, as well as the relationship between firms’ market position on specific strategic behavior.

Everyone must help: performance implications of CEO and top management team human capital and corporate political activity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Harris ◽  
Lee Warren Brown
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Outcome Differences

PurposeWhile research has shown that multiple actors, both internal and external to the organization, influence performance, oftentimes, these actors are studied in isolation. This paper aims to examine the performance implications of both top management team (TMT) and chief executive officer (CEO) human capital. In addition, the authors consider external actors' influence on performance by examining corporate political activity (CPA).Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a sample of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football teams, examining human capital data on the head coaches and the assistant coaches, combined with the schools' participation in NCAA football committees.FindingsThe study findings indicate that organizations engage in various market and nonmarket strategies in concert, and that different strategies result in performance outcome differences. Specifically, we examine how the use of CEO and TMT human capital and CPA interact and influence performance.Practical implicationsThe authors examine the moderating effects of political activity on the human capital–performance relationship for both top leaders and TMTs. Organizations benefit from investing in the human capital of their leaders internally and CPA externally.Originality/valueWhile organizations engage in market and nonmarket actions in concert, management research has generally studied these concepts in isolation. This paper suggests that both market and nonmarket activities can influence performance.

Composition of the Top Management Team and Information Security Breaches

2015 ◽  
pp. 1436-1455
Author(s):  
Carol Hsu ◽  
Tawei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information Security ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Security Management ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Information Security Management ◽  
Security Breaches ◽  
Security Technologies

Given the multifaceted problems and complexities of information security, the manner in which top management teams make investment and management decisions regarding security technologies, policy initiatives, and employee education could have a significant impact on the likelihood of information security breaches in organizations. In the context of information security management, it is not clear from management literature regarding how the characteristics of the top management team are associated with the possibility of information security breaches. The results demonstrate that the average length and heterogeneity of tenure could increase the possibility of breaches. However, age heterogeneity and the size of the top management team are negatively related to such a possibility. In addition, the findings suggest a nonlinear association between average age and tenure and the possibility of security breaches. The authors conclude the chapter with theoretical and practical implications on the organizational and managerial aspects of information security management.

Composition of the Top Management Team and Information Security Breaches

2015 ◽  
pp. 116-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Hsu ◽  
Tawei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information Security ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Security Management ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Information Security Management ◽  
Security Breaches ◽  
Security Technologies

Given the multifaceted problems and complexities of information security, the manner in which top management teams make investment and management decisions regarding security technologies, policy initiatives, and employee education could have a significant impact on the likelihood of information security breaches in organizations. In the context of information security management, it is not clear from management literature regarding how the characteristics of the top management team are associated with the possibility of information security breaches. The results demonstrate that the average length and heterogeneity of tenure could increase the possibility of breaches. However, age heterogeneity and the size of the top management team are negatively related to such a possibility. In addition, the findings suggest a nonlinear association between average age and tenure and the possibility of security breaches. The authors conclude the chapter with theoretical and practical implications on the organizational and managerial aspects of information security management.

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