Chief Executive Officer Dismissal: A Multidisciplinary Integration and Critical Analysis

Dismissal (or involuntary exit) of the chief executive officer (CEO) is a significant milestone with substantial implications for organizations and their members. The growing occurrence of CEO dismissals, and increased academic interest in this area, motivates our comprehensive multidisciplinary synthesis of the extant literature. Our analysis is organized around understanding the antecedents and outcomes of CEO dismissal, and the relevant moderators that play a contingent role in the nomological network. Based on our synthesis of the extant cross-disciplinary literature, we offer a multilevel organizing framework articulating the current state of research on CEO dismissal. In doing so, we catalog and analyze the concepts, theories, and constructs prevalent in the CEO dismissal literature. We also offer an in-depth discussion for the field going forward and identify a constructive agenda for future research on CEO dismissal.

Effects of financial restatements on top management team dismissal

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of financial restatements (FRs) on the likelihood of the top management team (TMT) dismissal. It investigates the effects of types of FRs [corrective note and reissuance of financial statement (RFS)], of FR severity and of FR related to international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) easy or difficult-to-estimate. Design/methodology/approach The authors hand-collect: data about 96 FRs from the Italian public oversight board documents; chief executive officer (CEO) name, chairman name, year of the financial statement under investigation, total assets and operating income, from their financial statement. The authors use multivariate regression to test the effects of FRs on the probability of TMT dismissal. Findings The authors find that the RFS leads to a higher likelihood of chairman dismissal. A greater magnitude of misrepresentation on income statements, and FRs, which decrease net income, increase the likelihood of CEO dismissal. Difficult-to-estimate IFRSs increases the likelihood of CEO dismissal. Originality/value FRs are significant determinants of the CEO/chairman dismissal. The authors show that FRs directly involving shareholders (RFS) have negative consequences on the chairman of the board of directors, while the CEO is more affected by FRs that involve technical factors (FR severity or financial statement associated with difficult-to-estimate IFRSs).