Role Of Chief Executive Officer Research Articles

Making the Transition

Nurses have long been leaders in health care, and many possess the skills and talents not only to provide superior patient care but also to lead institutions as chief executive officers (CEO). It is not surprising that nurses are moving into the role of CEOs in their organizations. Some nurses have purposefully obtained MHA or MBA graduate degrees to pursue administrative careers. Others have advanced to top organizational positions of leadership with non-business-related graduate degrees. This article interviews 6 such professionals to understand their journey to becoming CEO/president of their organization.

Generation Next and the Female Brand in Healthcare Management

IN JUST THE PAST TWO DAYS, I have been interviewed by two young, bright healthcare administration fellows seeking advice and direction about how to reach the C-suite and the role of chief executive officer. Because I'm relatively new to the C-suite myself, I find it almost impossible to avoid doing a double take and asking, Are you talking to me? However, there is no doubting the sage advice given by Alyson Pitman Giles and Ten Fontenot in their features. Having moved up the ranks from clinician and accountant, respectively, to their current roles as the leaders of complex, dynamic healthcare institutions, they share invaluable insights into precisely what it takes to be successful. Both authors provide important information in areas such as the characteristics and behaviors that can be attributed to top leaders, how women shape organizational culture, and bringing the to leadership. Who better to provide suggestions for women who aspire to leadership positions than those who have already traveled the path? The feature authors highlight their clear commitment to empowering future generations of successful women in leadership through strong mentorship. THE MUST-HAVES: CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIORS FOR SUCCESS Strength, independence, fearlessness, and intelligence are just a few characteristics of a successful leader. The list of critical characteristics for great leaders is long: * Tenacity * Political savvy * The ability to walk the walk * Approachability * Intuition * Organizational skills * An action orientation * Passion * Personableness * A talent for listening and communicating Ultimately, I have found that a key characteristic of individuals who successfully lead, not just manage, is the ability to learn from every interaction It is sometimes easier to learn from getting it wrong than from Setting it right. Be the continuous student and be the leader you would most like to follow The most important characteristic of a successful healthcare leader is the understanding that health is personal. Healthcare is a service field, and its members should be focused on providing the very best care and service to the patients we are privileged to serve. Those who feel differently should pursue other career paths. SHAPING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE WITH THE FEMALE BRAND If the phrase female brand bothers you a bit, don't worry. It bothered me as well, but I eventually found that it perfectly reflects the nurturing skills many leaders bring to healthcare. As Fontenot suggests, with the natural progression of the healthcare landscape toward greater inclusion, mutual respect, and transparency, the field is becoming more aligned with traditionally feminine traits. Diversity in thought, race, age, experience, and gender brings benefits to any organization. Fontenot states it perfectly when she highlights the benefits of the soft skills of balancing competing priorities, transparency, inclusivity, collaboration, communication, and multitasking. Soft skills can produce hard results. Incoming leaders should be conscious of the immense challenge that culture change can pose. Organizational culture will eat strategy for lunch any day, and those who walk into an organization with the notion that the culture can be changed overnight are doomed to fail. However, over time, through hundreds of decisions and interactions and the natural course of the healthcare market, soft skills gradually affect the culture of an organization. ASPIRATIONS: THE CHIHULY EFFECT The most common reaction of patients who enter the main lobby of Sutter Health's Palo Alto Medical Foundation Mountain View Center is, Wow. They are greeted by a huge, donated Dale Chihuly glass sculpture that hangs from the ceiling full of color, life, and imagination. (The sculpture may be viewed at www.pamf . …

The Role of Chief Executive Officer

The chief executive officer (CEO) holds one of the most important and influential roles in an organization, yet research on the role remains ambiguous, conflicted, and outdated. The purpose of this study was to address the gap between what is reported in the literature and what is known in current practice on the role of CEO. A major goal of this research was to use the insights provided by CEOs to improve our general understanding of the major roles played by CEOs and how they generally allocate their time in various critical functions. This research was also intended to serve those responsible for identifying CEO candidates, recruiting CEOs, coaching CEOs, sustaining an organization’s leadership system, and developing performance matrices for boards of directors who are ultimately responsible for making sure the CEO is effective and efficient.

TMT Educational and Functional Background Diversity, Team Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of CEO Empowering Leadership.

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. ArticlesTMT Educational and Functional Background Diversity, Team Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of CEO Empowering Leadership.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2010.54498889AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractThe article examines the moderating role of chief executive officer (CEO) empowering leadership in the relationship between top management team (TMT) diversity and firm performance. The mediating effects of team learning behavior and collective team identification on the relationships among TMT educational and functional background diversity, CEO empowering leadership and corporate performance are explored. Team learning behavior is defined as a team process that is connected to the information/decision-making perspective while collective team identification is described as an emergent state that is associated with the social categorization perspective.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2010, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 August 2010 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsOCCUPATIONAL rolesCHIEF executive officersLEADERSHIPDIVERSITY in the workplaceORGANIZATIONAL learningDECISION makingDownload PDF

New Executives and Audit Fees

The role of Chief Executive Officers [CEOs] and Chief Financial Officers [CFOs] in the financial reporting process has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years, such that SOX requires individual executives to certify the accuracy of their financial reports and the quality of their internal controls. Prior research has shown that the appointment of new executives is associated with higher levels of earnings management. We examine the association between firms hiring new CEOs or CFOs and audit fees, to determine if there is an audit fee premium associated with new CEOs (CFOs). Our results indicate that the presence of a new CEO (CFO) is associated with an audit fee premium of 10.5 (9.4) percent. This suggests that auditors are cognizant of, and price, the potential impact of new executives on financial reporting. We are not able, however, to identify the specific bases of the higher fees – greater audit effort or an increased risk premium.

Perspectives on organisational change

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate identity change in savings banks. The savings bank movement is gradually shifting from a residual culture of using the bank to promote savings, into a dominant culture closely resembling commercial banks.Design/methodology/approachTheory draws on key research in the field of organisational change and corporate identity. A qualitative methodology is used to investigate a large portion of the savings banks movement in Sweden.FindingsThe shift in culture is a result of decreasing values of original visions, a process of commercialising the savings bank idea and increasing chief executive officer (CEO) influence and professionalisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are primarily applicable for savings banks.Practical implicationsThe paper shows the ongoing changes in the savings bank community and the effects of these changes on critical stakeholders. In particular, the important role of CEOs in non‐profit organisations is illustrated and discussed.Originality/valueFew studies focus on change in culture and the consequences for stakeholder relations. There is no prior study on savings banks and organisational change.

From Hired Hands to Co-Owners: Compensation, Team Production, and the Role of the CEO

ABSTRACT:In the 1990s, the role of the chief executive officer (CEO) of major United States corporations underwent a profound transformation in which CEOs went from being bureaucrats or technocrats to shareholder partisans who acted more like proprietors or entrepreneurs. This transformation occurred in response to changes in the competitive environment of U.S. corporations and also to the agency theory argument that high levels of compensation by means of stock options helped to overcome the agency problem inherent in the separation of ownership and control. Some critics charge that this new CEO role is objectionable for a variety of reasons, which may also be applicable to the current financial crisis in which CEO misconduct may have played a part. These objections are based largely on a team production model of corporate governance, which is held by these critics to be superior to the standard agent-principal model. This article examines the objections offered by critics of the changed role of the CEO and argues that their negative assessment of this development and their use of the team production model to support their conclusions are not warranted. CEOs have changed from hired hands to co-owners, and this change may have contributed in some measure to the current financial crisis. However, in determining the morally preferable role of the CEO, care must be taken not to discard what is sound in the changed role.

The Roleof Chief Executive Officers in Design Management Exercises: Content Analysis and Case Studies

The Roleof Chief Executive Officers in Design Management Exercises: Content Analysis and Case Studies

The CEOs' characteristics and their strategy development in the UK SME sector

PurposeThis research sets out to examine the role of chief executive officers (CEOs) in the development of the business strategy in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe study explores the hypotheses that there is a relationship between: CEOs' age, work experiences, educational background and strategy formulation; and the impact of the strategic awareness on their part upon firm performance, using UK Standard Industrial Classification. The sample consisted of 508 SMEs in the electronics industry using “self‐reported rating” survey questionnaire and interviews which resulted in 132 completed responses and 12 in‐depth interviews.FindingsCorrelation analysis of data showed that: there was no significant correlation between the age of the CEO's and their performance; professionally experienced CEOs placed more emphasis on formal strategy development; CEOs with an educational background are inclined to develop formal strategic plans. Strategic awareness of the CEOs plays a significant part in the formulation of business strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are mostly new though limited to the electronics industry. A future comparative industry‐wide study is recommended.Practical implicationsThe research has far reaching implications for selecting, training and developing CEOs, since they play a significant role in formulation of the business strategy and the firm's performance.Originality/valueThe original contribution concerns the CEO's awareness of the strategic planning process. It has special value for human resource management (HRM) decision processes towards recruitment, selection and training and management development of the CEOs.

The Significance of Charter Schools and the Privatization of Standards: Holding the Wolf by the Ears

The dynamics of educational policy discourse in the USA are illustrated by the highly contested positions on charter schools in three arenas: media debates, national policy and local school reform. In media debates, civil society actors – including teachers’ unions, think tanks and print media – engage in polarized exchanges notable for their name-calling and vitriol. In national policy, after two decades of much consensus where charters were viewed as a way of raising standards, policy formation is presently shaped by deep splits on funding and privatization initiatives; charters are increasingly short on the former and seen as potential vehicles for the latter. This manifests itself on the level of local reform, where charters are a component part of numerous school reforms, including a systematic overhaul of the nation's largest school district. There, a corporate model that emphasizes the chief executive officer's role in selecting among productive and unproductive employees has been deployed. The title image (wolf, ears) responds to some of the discourse and is taken from Thomas Jefferson's explanation of the dilemma slavery posed for the USA. As the privatization of standards seems to advance incrementally, the article suggests that a similar dilemma now confronts advocates for public education, especially teachers’ unions, who have previously supported standards-based reform and the use of charters for the purpose of educational innovation.

Governance: Critical Issues for Hospital CEOs and Boards

THERE CAN BE no question that hospital and healthcare environment has become increasingly complex and promises to become more complicated in future. For hospitals and health systems and their boards of directors, this challenging environment will lead to much greater transparency and accountability to their community and to government. Having served as a chief executive officer (CEO) of a hospital and health system for 30 years, I have had great pleasure of knowing and working with many community leaders who serve on health system boards. The quality of individuals that I have been associated with in this capacity has been consistently exceptional. OVERALL OBSERVATIONS Challenges in Governance The feature articles associated with this commentary, Building Better Boards in New Era of Accountability, by Orlikoff, and Priority Issues for Hospital Boards, by Middleton, present a realistic appraisal of a challenging and complex environment in which hospital and health system boards and their CEOs operate today-and, increasingly, tomorrow. Although these excellent articles present effective boards from different perspectives, they both do a wonderful job of framing tomorrow's issues and challenges. They also offer suggestions and insights that are necessary to consider. Both articles underscore growing complexity of healthcare environment. Whether challenges are compliance with recent regulations-adhering to Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, defending tax-exempt status, measuring and reporting benefits to community and to government, and satisfying needs of bondholders-or compliance with regulatory issues in future, we cannot serve our communities well unless we have effective boards. The focal point of this effectiveness is represented by relationship between CEO and board, especially board chair. As Middleton points out in his Final Note section, the board cannot be at war with CEO, and the chair should be in regular communication with CEO. That is good advice for a productive relationship. The CEO's Role The articles also point out that CEO plays a key role in developing a more effective board. Creating effective orientation programs, requiring continuing education for members of board, working with board to select needed diverse expertise and experience in new board members, helping board stay on mission and focus, and avoiding conflicts of interest are key areas where CEO can directly enhance board effectiveness. Also, helping board focus its meetings on right issues, providing sufficient time to deliberate, and streamlining process by which board meets its accountability and compliance activities are effective strategies to assist board in focusing its time on more appropriate issues. Given complexity and regulatory challenges facing our boards, it is easy to understand how they might focus more attention on risk and compliance issues than on providing leadership and strategy to organization. The competition for boards' time, energy, and resources must be preserved for important; we cannot allow urgent to crowd out that which is important, especially when board is given responsibility to meet healthcare needs of our patients and our communities. REACTION TO MIDDLETON'S ARTICLE Middleton's feature article is full of practical insights, many of which I support and endorse. For example, board must have a clear understanding of its role as governing authority. If a hospital or health system board spends its time fulfilling management's role, then who fulfills role of governance? Middleton talks about having too many committees-and I would add, perhaps too many boards-especially in multihospital systems representing diverse geographic areas. Too many boards and too many committees result in overly complicated decision-making processes and place too heavy a burden on management. …

Charismatic leadership at the strategic level: A new application of upper echelons theory

The primary purpose of this article is to integrate charismatic leadership theory with the upper echelons perspective in an attempt to better understand the leadership role of chief executive officers (CEOs). We report data from 69 U.S. and Canadian firms suggesting that CEO charismatic leadership measured at a point in time predicts subsequent firm performance. However, it is essentially unrelated to prior firm performance. Findings were weak with regard to an expected interaction between charisma and perceived environmental uncertainty in the prediction of performance. When intellectual stimulation was substituted for charisma, interaction results became somewhat stronger. As expected, charisma was related to both subjective and objective measures of strategic change, although we did not find an expected interaction between charisma and strategic change in the prediction of firm performance. Results are discussed in terms of the need for additional multidisciplinary research bridging micro- and macro-level conceptualizations of the role of leadership in the upper echelons of organizations.

Looking for Insights in All the Right Places: What Executives Pay Attention to Impacts Firm Performance

The article reports on research concerning firm performance in stable and uncertain environments, the role of chief executive officers (CEO) in gathering information and identifying business conditions, and innovation as a strategy in uncertain environments. Corporations in stable environments should concentrate on cost control and efficiency. The study focused on the information behavior of CEOs and found that the type of information used in environmental scanning impacts financial performance. The research was conducted by Vinay Garg of Southwest Missouri State University, Bruce Walters of Louisiana Tech University, and Richard Priem of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

A Conversation with Paul Vallas Successful Leadership in the Chicago Public Schools

A mere seven years ago, the Chicago Public Schools were considered a national disgrace and a state and city embarrassment. Student learning was way below the national average. Costs and budgetary shortfalls were common place with the State having to provide emergency funding to keep the schools running. It was a huge government bureaucracy out of control. And huge it is. In May, 1998 the Chicago Public Schools accounted for 409,499 students consisting of 553 schools (476 elementary and 77 secondary schools). The operating budget of this school system alone is $3.4 billion dollars in the 1998-1999 school year with 44,960 employees with over 1,000 of those employees in the central service center supporting the schools. Seventy nine percent of the students come from low-income families with roughly 15 percent of the students are limited-English-proficient. The organization of the school district is a bit different as well with over 553 local school councils governing specific schools in the district. These councils are composed of 6 parent representatives, 2 community residents, 2 teachers, 1 principal, and one student representative in the high school local school councils. To say this is a complex bureaucracy would probably be an understatement. With the diffusions of power and pure size, the system was prone to all sorts of problems relating to a lack of focus on learning and effective fiscal management. The end result was that political infighting and a lack of effective financial management lead to a system in chaos. The state, tired of providing considerable resources and emergency funding worked with the city to develop a plan to bring better management into the Chicago Public Schools. Enter the reform movement of 1995 passed by the State and supported by the City of Chicago, which led to the appointment of a new oversight Reform Board of Trustees. With that change, a new management team was formed to lead the Chicago Public Schools. The CEO appointed in that new role was Paul Vallas. Prior to his appointment as CEO of the Chicago public schools, Paul Vallas served the City of Chicago for five years as Budget Director and as Director of Revenues. On June 9th, 1998, Crain's Chicago Business named Vallas of the Year. As CEO of Chicago Public Schools Vallas has assembled and led a fantastic team of committed individuals working to turn around the school system to make it into a showcase of the nation. This change from a disgrace to becoming a show case was pointed out several times by Bill Clinton, President of the United States, recently in his State of the Union address in January 1999. In addition, the President made two visits to Chicago's public schools to show case the quality work being done. Since the reform board has taken over, elementary reading scores are at there highest since the 1980s with 34.7 percent of the students at or above national norms. This is compared to a 21.8 percent rate in 1991. Elementary math scores are improving. Currently, 39.6 percent of the students are at or above national norms. This is compared to only 26.3 percent in 1992. Similar improvements have been made in high school reading and math scores as well. Attendance rates have increased markedly with one school winning the Lincoln Quality Recognition (a State quality award) for reductions in its drop out rate. After several years of declining enrollments, Chicago has seen increasing enrollment over the past 5 years and this year saw the opening of the first new high school in 40 years. I wanted to find out what lead to this incredible turnaround. So I ventured to the CEOs office of the Chicago Public Schools. Below is my interview with Paul Vallas. I think you will find it interesting. The focus is on the development of a team of highly dedicated people that are all committed to make things happen. K.T.: Paul, how long have you been in the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools? …

Do You have to Start at the Top? The Chief Executive Officer's Role in Successful Organization Development Efforts

The central role of the chief executive officer (CEO) in an organization development project is illustrated by two different CEOs in a medium-sized medical center during a 4-yearperiod. Organization climate, nursing turnover, net profits, and market share data showed no significant improvement during the first 2 years but improved during the second 2-year period. The other critical variables-the consultant, the design of the project, the number of days the consultant spent in the organization, the general approach to delivering patient services, the medical staff the economy, the medical job markets, and the organizational population-all remained approximately the same during the 4-year period. Results from questionnaire and interview data attribute both the negative results during the first 2 years and the positive results during the second to the person who filled the role of the CEO.

Role of Chief Executive Officers in Takeover Resistance: Effects of CEO Incentives and Individual Characteristics

This study examined the influence of chief executive officers' (CEO) incentives and individual characteristics on the likelihood that target firms will resist takeover attempts. Results showed that...

CEOs, POLICIES AND PUBLIC BODIES

Abstract: The literature on statutory authorities has concentrated largely upon matters of structure and administrative arrangements. One significant dimension which has received scant treatment is the idiosyncratic role of chief executive officers in such organisations and their ability to capture both the agency and policy‐direction, often in ways immune from government control. This article mainly examines one example from the Northern Territory, the Darwin Trade Development Zone, but evidence is included to support the contention that similar processes occur in other statutory authorities both locally and elsewhere in Australia. It is argued that structural reforms cannot by themselves remedy the gap between expectation and policy‐delivery. Avenues for reform are discussed, including the more orthodox accountability linkages, and the conclusions drawn argue for greater attention to be given to the appropriateness of chief executive appointments within a context of more disciplined and coherent policy‐direction.

Corporate Governance Changes in UK Companies Between 1988 and 1993

In the UK, recently, there has been an intense debate about what constitutes good corporate governance. This paper presents the results of a retrospective postal survey into the nature of corporate governance structures in UK companies. The objective of this paper is to isolate the extent to which key corporate governance innovations are being adopted in the boardrooms of UK companies. The main findings can be summarised as follows: (i) 77 per cent of the sample of quoted companies separated the role of chief executive officer and chairman in 1993 compared to 57 per cent in 1988; (ii) 94 per cent of quoted companies operated remuneration committees in 1993 as compared to 54 per cent in 1988; (iii) the incidence of audit committees among companies has doubled between 1988 and 1993 whilst the incidence of nomination committees has trebled; (iv) in apparent contradiction of the Institutional Shareholders’ Committee recommendation, of those companies that operated remuneration committees in 1993, 40 per cent had the top executive director as a committee member. Overall the picture that emerges is of radical change in governance innovation since the late 1980s.

The relationship between governance structure and corporate performance in entrepreneurial firms

Organizational scholars and practitioners alike continue to focus on the role of chief executive officers and boards of directors in small and entrepreneurial firms. The popular business literature suggests strong linkages between these individuals and firm performance among the largest firms; however, this linkage may be strongest in the more modestly sized firm. While there is little agreement concerning the nature and strength of this relationship, it is clear that this issue remains a fruitful area of investigation. This study examines the organizational agent/firm performance linkage focusing specifically on the role of founder chief executive officers (CEOs) and the composition of the boards of directors. Extant research would suggest that founder CEOs rely on dysfunctional governance structures (e.g., CEO duality, lower numbers of outside directors, lower proportions of outside directors) to a greater extent than their non-founder counterparts. Additionally, it is believed that these inappropriate governance structures will be associated with decreased firm performance. The 1989 Inc. 100 corporations provide the sample of firms to test these propositions. The data reveal that CEOs of these successful entrepreneurial firms do not demonstrate a tendency to adopt inappropriate governance structures. This finding is contrary to related research which has found that stable small corporation founder CEOs are less likely to utilize prescribed governance structures, jeopardizing firm performance. Founder CEOs of the Inc. 100, however, apparently realize the benefit of outside direction and elect to rely on the independent structure and outside board direction in similar degrees as their non-founder cohorts. The CEO's ability to sacrifice some measure of control by inviting outside direction may contribute to the overall high performance of this sample of firms. While no performance differences were apparent under either dual or independent board leadership, modest performance advantages were found with greater numbers and proportions of outside directors. These findings provide some support for the ability of founder and non-founder CEOs to relinquish the tight control and effectively guide the growth of the firm. The board of directors, then, provides a sensible tool when striving for the goal affirm growth. While it is unlikely that there is one optimal board configuration that will effectively guide the entrepreneurial firm to success, utilizing the expertise and resources provided by outside directors appears to enable the desired growth. Future investigations in this area may provide further understanding of the value of outside assistance and the specific types of outside directors that may best contribute to firm performance.

The Female Chief Executive:An Analysis of Career Progress and Development Needs

A study of US female chief executive officers (CEOs) identifies the women as more creative, better qualified, and appointed to the role of CEO at a younger age. Although female CEOs identify the importance of motivation, personal drive and people skills as key reasons for success, they equally emphasise organisation and administrative skills, while the male CEOs highlight working effectively in teams. Based on these results, recommendations concerning the development of the female CEO are offered.