CEOs with a functional background operations: reviewing their performance and prevalence in the top post

Burak Koyuncu, Shainaz Firfiray, Björn Claes and Monika Hamori
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Burak Koyuncu: Tr@jectoires - Pôle Trajectoires - Rouen Business School - Rouen Business School
Shainaz Firfiray: IE Business School - IE Business School Madrid - IE Business School Madrid
Björn Claes: Centre for Business Performance - Cranfield School of Management
Monika Hamori: IE Business School - IE Business School, Madrid - IE Business School, Madrid

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Abstract: With this study, we update research by Ocasio and Kim (1999) by testing whether the trends that favored the prevalence of CEOs with an operations background in the 1980s and early 1990s continued between 1992 and 2005. Given that supply chain management became a top business priority during this period, we expect a greater prevalence of CEOs with an operations background. This is because, traditionally, executives belonging to the operations function have assumed responsibility for supply chain management issues. Our results, based on a sample of 437 CEOs who lead large-sized U.S. firms in eight industries, provide partial support for the hypothesis that CEOs with a functional background in operations attain higher post-succession performance than CEOs with other functional backgrounds. In addition, we find that the likelihood that newly appointed CEOs have a background in operations is greater in succession events that have taken place more recently and in situations that occurred in the face of poor firm financial performance.

Keywords: conception of control; functional background; executive careers; executive succession; careers; training; development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published in Human Resource Management, 2010, 49 (5), pp.869-882. ⟨10.1002/hrm.20389⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00546153

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.20389

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