Too Early or Too Late: A Sequence Analysis of Executive Career Timing

Abstract

The executive career development literature holds as a strong premise that executives learn from career experiences and job assignments to be prepared for increasingly complex organizational positions. The temporal aspect of a career, namely the sequence of career experiences and events, however, is yet to be fully explored. This study utilizes the complete career paths of 49 high-level executives in a Fortune 100 company and examines the time sequence of their managerial transitions, to identify critical patterns in relation to career outcomes. Based on optimal matching cross organizational levels and role types, four typical career paths were found. Most significantly, a positive effect of “career misfit” was found to affect promotion rate, and this effect was moderated by executives’ competencies. Findings from this empirical study provide theoretical and practical implications for executive career development.