The mediating role of employee alignment in the relationship between CEO’s skills and successful strategy execution

Abstract

Regardless of the amount of research and focus on the success of the strategy execution, there does still appear to be a gap in the existing body of literature, which may lead to potential deficits in understanding the role of other factors such as chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) skills, and the alignment of the employee in the successful execution of the strategy. Therefore, the current study investigates the relationship between CEOs’ skills and successful strategy execution and the mediating effect of employee alignment on this relationship. The current study utilized quantitative and descriptive research methods with a survey research design. One hundred and thirty-nine CEOs of the service companies operating in Jordan completed the web-based survey questionnaire. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method was employed to test the study hypotheses. The findings revealed that CEOs’ skills and employee alignment have a significant and positive impact on successful strategy execution. In addition, the results indicated that employee alignment has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between CEOs’ skills and successful strategy execution. To execute the strategy successfully, CEOs in the hypercompetitive environment need to apply both the technical skills of the job and the diverse soft skills and ensure that employees understand the link between their job responsibilities and the strategy execution through an effective communicating process.