The purpose of this study is to determine whether the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can be applied to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) remuneration of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) by defining inputs in terms of remuneration factors and outputs in terms of business factors in order to establish a benchmark for CEO remuneration. An exploratory study is conducted, using cross-sectional data from a secondary source. The sample consists of 221 companies listed on the JSE that disclosed their financial and non-financial information during 2010. The DEA was performed to estimate the relative technical efficiency of CEOs to convert their remuneration into company performance indicators. Base Pay, Perquisites and Pension, Annual Bonus Plans and Long-term Incentives were used as the inputs to the DEA model and company performance and size, measured by Return on Equity (ROE) and Total Assets respectively, were used as the outputs to the model. The empirical results prove that the DEA can be successfully applied as a benchmarking model for CEO remuneration that incorporates multiple inputs and outputs and establishes benchmarks and potential improvements for overpaid, inefficient CEOs. The CEOs from 80 of the 221 companies included in the sample emerged as the benchmark CEOs and formed the efficiency frontier against which inefficient CEOs were compared in order to determine the potential improvements for these CEOs. From a research perspective, this study contributes to the advancement of CEO remuneration research by introducing an alternative model by which CEO remuneration can be analysed. Future studies can analyse CEO remuneration by using other variables or time series data in the DEA model or combine the DEA with other methods like the regression analysis to perform more comprehensive investigations. From a practical perspective, the DEA can be used to establish a benchmark for CEO remuneration. Remuneration committees can use the results of the DEA as a guide to determine acceptable remuneration levels and decrease the pay gap between CEOs and the average worker. The originality of this study lies in the fact that it is the first South African study that used the DEA instead of the regression analysis to analyse CEO remuneration of companies listed on the JSE. This study also disaggregated Total CEO Remuneration into Base Pay, Perquisites and Pension, Annual Bonus Plans and Long-term Incentives to provide more accurate benchmark information. In addition, this is the first study that established benchmark CEO remuneration levels and suggested improvements to the remuneration package structure of overpaid, under-performing CEOs of companies listed on the JSE. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Management)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2005. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The goal of this research was to determine, in a South African context, whether there is any correlation between chief executive officer compensation and the performance of the company. For the purposes of the research , the compensation of chief executive officers was broken down into three components: salary, bonus and "other" remuneration, while company performance was measured on return on equity, return on assets and earnings per share figures. Studies on this topic have been carried out in other countries, most notably in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It appears that no research of a similar nature has been carried out in South Africa. Data in respect of the forty largest listed companies in South Africa were collected over a period of five years. The econometric models used for the research were based on models identified in the literature study. The data were then analysed for evidence of a correlation between chief executive officer compensation and the performance of the company. The results of this study indicate that there is no linear relationship between chief executive officer compensation and company performance variables. The econometric models did, however, show correlations between certain variables, taking into account the other predictor variables in the model. Evidence of correlations between age and experience and compensation was also found , which may present potential avenues of research to scholars in the future.

The study examines the potential threat to an auditor’s independence in fact which may result from the extraordinarily favorable personal reputation (superstar status) of an audit client’s CEO This potential threat to an auditors’ independence is the result of a halo effect bias which can distort an individual’s judgment and behavior Accounting firms use a business risk audit approach which involves conducting a strategic risk assessment which assesses the overall threats to the business model of an audit client Prior research has demonstrated that the strategic risk assessment can bias the judgment of auditors pertaining to financial account level risk assessments For example, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme demonstrated how an extraordinarily well respected individual with superstar status can distort the judgment of knowledgeable and normally skeptical individuals An experiment was conducted to examine the potential threat of a superstar CEO on an auditor’s independence as demonstrated by the ability to distort the judgment of the auditor during the performance of the strategic risk assessment In addition, the experiment was designed to examine whether the halo cognitive bias can lessen the impact that an auditor’s professional skepticism has on his or her judgment and behavior during the audit of a client’s financial statement Unlike other studies which have sought only to demonstrate that a cognitive bias exist which impairs auditor judgment; the study also examined whether the influence of a halo effect bias can be mitigated by the formal rating of audit evidence in a similar manner that was used by Embu and Finley (1977) to successfully mitigate a framing effect The experiment did not support the main hypothesis of the study that auditors assess the strategic risk at a lower risk level for firms that employ a superstar CEO than for those whom employ a non-superstar CEO This result may primarily be due to the inability of the scenario used in the experiment to sufficiently differentiate the characteristics of the superstar and non-superstar CEO Without establishing that the participants’ judgment was being distorted by a superstar CEO; the other hypotheses which involved testing a debiasing method to mitigate the halo effect caused by a superstar CEO and investigating whether a halo effect reduces the impact that auditors’ trait skepticism level has on their judgment could not be properly tested / Includes bibliography / Dissertation (PhD)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2015 / Many studies considering the effects CEOs‟ characteristics have on the companies they run have been carried out in America. This study considers if organisational outcomes and strategic choices are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics as put forward by Hambrick and Mason (1984). It attempts to determine if the personality traits of CEOs of JSE listed companies (which result in them being classified as a narcissist) have an impact on the financial performance on the company for which they work. As identified by Chatterjee and Hambrick (2007), prior research has explored how executive‟s characteristics are manifested in organisational outcomes, however very little research addresses the narcissistic aspect of CEOs personalities. This study explored whether a relationship exists between CEO narcissism and strategic dynamism in a nonprobability, convenience sample.. A 5-item narcissism index was used as a proxy for narcissism and financial leverage, overhead efficiency and plant and equipment newness, were used to measure strategic dynamism. Multiple regression was used to analyse the data by applying CEO narcissism as the independent variable, strategic dynamism as the dependents variable whilst including control variables, including the CEO tenure, the age of the CEO, the age of the company, and indicator variable for the presence of a COO, the phase of the economy during which the CEO served his tenure and an indicator variable for which industry the company is operating in. The results of this study revealed that there is a viii correlation between the level of narcissism, captured using unobtrusive measures, of a JSE listed company‟s CEO and the level of strategic dynamism of that company. The results of the regression models suggest that whilst there is no observable relationship between narcissism and strategic dynamism, there is a relationship between narcissism and two of the components of strategic dynamism, financial leverage and plant and equipment newness. This research contributes further to the study of the effect of narcissistic CEO‟s on the companies for which they work and suggests that the personality traits of CEOs should be considered by company boards and shareholders when deciding to elect a person as CEO as well as by investors when deciding which companies to invest in.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Change is a way of life in organisations today. The challenge is to improve an organisation's ability to cope with change and its problem-solving and renewal process through effective management of the organisation's culture. Organisations in South Africa are experiencing major changes in a variety of areas which impacts severely on organisational perronnance. The ability of organisations to adjust to the changing environment will ultimately predict their future success. These changes have emphasised the urgent need for effective leadership. South African chief executive officers (CEOs) are under immense pressure as the affairs of the organisations are being called into question. This study attempts to answer the question of why there was a high leadership change in the Land Bank of South Africa, with emphasis on the CEOs between 1998-2008. Today, there are indications that corporate leadership styles are changing, particularly in countries undergoing rapid political change and socio-economic change. One of the challenges facing state owned organisations like the Land Bank is the clarification of the role of government as a shareholder and the role of the board. This in turn needs to cascade down into the organisation in order to achieve greater clarity with regard to the roles of the board in relation to the role of management. In any organisation, good corporate governance is ultimately about effective leadership. Much depends on the appropriate demarcation of the respective roles of the shareholder, the board and management. It is critical that there is an understanding by government, in its capacity as a shareholder, of its leadership role in directing and guiding the Land Bank. The solution starts with a proper understanding of what leadership means. What then are the qualities of effective leadership? Are there different leadership styles and if so, what are the fundamental qualities that they have in common? Organisations can bring turnaround consultants into the organisation to assess its situation, create and implement a plan of corporate renewal, assuming the organisation is worth the effort. Business turnarounds usually involve drastic changes in an organisation. Changes involve people. Central to change stands a leadership team without which mediocre efforts will prevail. The Land Bank needs to be aware of the themes that emerged in this research. The results alert CEOs, board and government to the need to adopting leadership practices to the unique challenges which exist in the socio-economic and political environment. To cope effectively with South Africa's socio-economic changing environment, the Land Bank needs to redefine the role of its leaders for the future, on the basis of which it needs to nurture future leaders starting at the top. Failure to develop appropriate future leaders could damage performance, employee mobilisation, policy coherence, good governance and competitive capability. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verandering is vandag 'n leefwyse in organisasies. Die uitdaging is om 'n organisasie se vermoe om verandering, probleemoplossing en die hernuwingsproses te hanteer, deur doeltreffende bestuur van die organisasie se kultuur te verbeter. Organisasies in Suid-Afrika ondervind groot veranderinge op 'n verskeidenheid gebiede en dit het 'n ernstige impak op die prestasie van die organisasie. Die vermoe van organisasies om by 'n veranderende omgewing aan te pas, sal uiteindelik hul toekomstige sukses bepaal. Hierdie veranderinge het die dringende behoefte aan doeltreffende leierskap beklemtoon. Suid-Afrikaanse uitvoerende hoofde is onder enorme druk soos wat die sake van die organisasies bevraagteken word. Hierdie studie poog om 'n antwoord te gee op die vraag waarom daar van 1998-2008 'n hoe leierskapsverandering in die Suid-Afrikaanse Landbank was, met die klem op die uitvoerende hoofde tussen 1998 en 2008. Daar is vandag aanduidings dat korporatiewe leierskapstyle besig is om te verander, veral in lande waar daar vinnige politieke en sosio-ekonomiese verandering plaasvind. Een van die uitdagings vir organisasies wat aan die staat behoort, soos die Landbank, is die uitklaring van die rol van die regering as 'n aandeelhouer en die rol van die direksie. Dit moet op sy beurt afwaarts deur die organisasie voortgesit word met betrekking tot die rolle van die direksie vergeleke met die rol van bestuur. In enige organisasie gaan goeie korporatiewe bestuur uiteindelik oor doeltreffende leierskap. Baie hang af van die toepaslike uitstippeling van die onderskeie rolle van die aandeelhouer, die direksie en bestuur. Dit is van kritieke belang dat daar 'n begrip is by die regering, in sy hoedanigheid as 'n aandeelhouer, van sy leierskapsrol in die bestuur en beheer van die Landbank. Die oplossing begin met 'n goeie begrip van wat leierskap beteken. Wat is dan die kwaliteite van doeltreffende leierskap? Is daar verskillende leierskapstyle en indien wel, wat is die fundamentele kwaliteite wat hulle in gemeen het? Organisasies kan van ommekeer-konsultante gebruik maak om die situasie te beoordeel en 'n plan vir 'n korporatiewe hernuwing te skep en te implementeer, mits die organisasie die moeite werd is. So 'n ommekeer beteken gewoonlik drastiese veranderinge in 'n organisasie. Veranderinge betrek mense. Sentraal tot verandering staan 'n leierskapspan, want daarsonder sal die pogings bloot middelmatig bly. Die Landbank moet bewus raak van die temas wat in hierdie navorsing na vore gekom het. Die resultate maak uitvoerende hoofde, die direksie en die regering bewus van die behoefte om leierskapspraktyke aan te pas by die unieke uitdagings wat in die sosioekonomiese en politieke omgewing bestaan. Om Suid-Afrika se veranderende sosioekonomiese omgewing doeltreffend te hanteer, moet die Landbank die rol van sy leiers vir die toekoms herdefinieer, op grond waarvan dit toekomstige leiers moet kweek en dit moet van bo af begin. As toepaslike toekomstige leiers nie ontwikkel word nie, sal dit tot nadeel van prestasie, werknemermobilisering, beleidsamehang, goeie bestuur en mededingende vermoens strek.

Researchers posit that the primary objective of a business enterprise is to create shareholder value, and Economic Value Added (EVA) has been found to be the best available financial metric for measuring value. It is argued that EVA differs from other metrics in the sense that it incorporates both the enterprise profits and the capital costs for such profits. The study intended to establish attributes and competencies that are relevant, key and can bear the relationship with the EVA. In order to achieve this, the following questions were posed, namely; what key attributes and competencies an executive needs to possess for the purpose of organisational value creation?; and what is the measure to be utilised that includes these competencies to ensure organisational value creation and leadership development? The study aim was to propose and develop a diagnostic Value Creating Competencies Index, which is based on the components of or influenced by EVA. The success of the study was based on three pillars, firstly, EVA as a superior financial measure. To support this, literature that supported that EVA is adopted as a superior financial measure compared to other accounting based measures was reviewed and critiqued. The second element of the study was the focus on CEOs as critical and important drivers of value in organisations. However, the available literature was not able to provide a convincing argument to focus ‘all’ the attention on CEOs at the expense of other executives and the organisation at large. To determine whether CEOs can be given this attention and prominence, we conducted an additional study that assessed the share price movement on the public announcement of CEOs on companies listed on JSE. The findings of this study showed significant movement of share price and volume traded, and on the strength of this observation we concluded that CEOs can be used in this study as drivers of value. The third element was to look at competencies and competency modelling as a conduit that links value creation (EVA) and creators of value (CEOs). The literature on competencies was consulted and that of modelling, looking at the advantages and disadvantages of competency modelling. The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and mixed methods approach. A qualitative dominant approach was followed. The study population consisted of Chief Executive Officers of the companies listed on the JSE top 40, who have had same position for a minimum of five years. Two CEOs could successfully be reached and interviewed. Data were collected through interviews, observations and documents analysis of the selected CEOs and their respective companies. Data were analysed qualitatively using the Atlas-ti software package, and then followed by a quantitative approach that was conducted using a Delphi approach. Two samples were utilised for this purpose. The first sample was a census of top 50 companies on Executive Search Review (United States headquartered companies that deals with CEO recruitments), the second sample was a random sample taken from JSE listed companies. Qualitative results were presented and discussed and the competencies were identified and linked to actual performance in respective organisations. In addition, identified competencies were confirmed by linking to the relevant quotations from the interviews and or analysed documents. Based on the qualitative results a competency model, Octastellatus CEO Competency model was developed and presented. From the competency model, the competency index Sustainable Economic Value Competency Index (SEVCI) was constructed and presented. The index has four clusters, namely; the core competencies, enabling competencies, differentiating competencies and competitive competencies. The index measure is presented as the sum of weighted averages of the four clusters. It is believed that this research work have made a significant and unique contribution by providing a quantitatively validated CEO competency model and corresponding competency index for assessing potential ability to create economic value. In an area that previously had a disconnection between ability to create value and actual value creation is now a known area and it is represented by SEVCI. / Business Management / DBL

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the intersection of race, gender and social class on women leaders’ work experience and career progression in order to come up with strategies for gender transformation at leadership level in corporate South Africa. The problem statement of this research study concerns the indication in the annual report of the Commission for Employment Equity (Department of Labour 2012) that there is under-representation of women, especially African and Coloured women, at top management level relative to the economically active population. The Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill was published in the Government Gazette No. 37005 of 6 November 2013. This Bill aims to enforce compliance with the stipulated minimum representation of women at senior levels in both the private and public sectors. This study, with its objective of reaching an understanding of the impact of the intersection of race, gender and social class on women’s career progression, is therefore timeous. Getting the perspective of woman CEOs across race and class on how to transform gender at leadership level could add an important voice to transformation and could be of benefit to decision makers in business and in government. Based on this problem statement the following research questions were formulated: - To what extent does the intersection of race, social class and gender impact on women CEOs’ experience in their work roles and career progression? - How might an understanding of women leaders’ experiences in their roles assist with strategies to transform gender at leadership level in corporate South Africa? Qualitative research methodology was chosen as the appropriate methodology and grounded theory was employed. Purposive, snowball and theoretical sampling methods were used to identify fourteen participants (13 CEOs and one chairman).The life story method was employed for in-depth semi-structured interviews from which rich descriptive data was collected and which was analysed using grounded theory. Findings confirmed that the intersection of race, gender, age and class does have an impact on women’s career progression and their life experiences. The dominant social identity was race for blacks and gender whites; class and age were the overlay. In terms of strategies for gender transformation, first-order constructs from the participants were related to abstract second-order constructs from the literature, which led to the formulation of the WHEEL Theoretical Model. The theoretical model is an integration of different elements required for the formulation of strategies for gender transformation at leadership level. The different elements were women themselves; domestic and family support; the organisation; society and government. Despite some limitations that were encountered, the aim of the study was achieved by making a contribution not only to the development of theory related to strategies for gender transformation at leadership level, which other scholars can build from, but also to the gaining of insights into the intersection of multiple social identities and their impact which can be used by business leaders and policymakers to address inequalities in organisations. In addition, this research study made various recommendations for future research / Business Management / DBL

Hospital performance metrics are an indicator of leadership performance. However, there is inadequate research on whether physician or nonphysician chief executive officers (CEOs) perform better in the U.S. hospitals. The purpose of this study was to examine which type of leaders is better. Leadership trait, situational leadership, and leadership behavior theories constituted the theoretical foundation. The key research question examined the relationship between a hospital's outcomes, which in this study, included hospital net income, patient experience ratings, and mortality rates, and the type of CEO in that hospital: physician or non-physician. A quantitative, causal comparative design was used to answer this question. Three hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance. The dependent variable was hospital outcomes: hospital net income, patient experience ratings, and mortality rates. The independent variable was the type of hospital CEO: physician and nonphysician. Datasets from 2014-2015 were used, which were publically available on the websites of U.S. based hospitals, research organizations, and journals. A sample of 60 hospitals was drawn from U.S. non-federal, short-term, acute care hospitals, based on number of staffed beds (n = 60). No significant differences were found between nonphysician and physician CEOs on hospitals' net income (p = .911), patient experience ratings (p = .166), or mortality rates (p = .636). Thus, the null hypotheses were retained. Findings suggest that physician and non-physician CEOs may produce similar outcomes in the hospitals they lead. Based on these findings, hospital boards can view CEO applicants equally when considering whom to hire and understanding U.S. hospital leadership.

Esta tesis consiste de tres ensayos. En el primero, documentamos la correlación imaginaria entre las decisiones de compensación de los ejecutivos (CEO) al demostrar que el hándicap de los ejecutivos que juegan al golf no está correlacionado con su desempeño en la empresa mientras que sí lo está con su compensación. Los golfistas ganan más que los que no juegan al golf, y las pagas se incrementan con la habilidad en este juego. En el segundo ensayo explicamos la reciente espiral de las compensaciones de los ejecutivos basados en el sesgo de atribución fundamental. El análisis de las series temporales agregadas y de datos de sección cruzada correspondiente a la burbuja del mercado accionario en los noventa sugiere que los accionistas exageran al atribuir las subidas y bajadas de los precios de las acciones corporativas a las aptitudes de liderazgo del ejecutivo mientras que subestiman el rol de las fluctuaciones del mercado accionario que se encuentran fuera del control de estos. En el tercer ensayo demostramos que un gran número de Ofertas Públicas Iniciales predice sistemáticamente, tanto dentro como fuera de la muestra, el subsiguiente bajo rendimientos agregado y ponderado, y la diferencia de rendimientos entre las pequeñas y grandes firmas. / This thesis consists of three essays. In the first, we document illusory correlation in CEO compensation decisions by demonstrating that golf handicaps of CEOs are uncorrelated with corporate performance, but related to CEO compensation. Golfers earn more than non-golfers and pay increases with golfing ability. In the second essay we propose a fundamental attribution bias-based explanation of the recent explosive growth in CEO pay. Analysis of aggregate time series data and cross sectional data from the late 1990s stock market bubble period suggests that shareholders overattribute prominent increases and decreases in the prices of corporate stocks to the leadership and skill of the CEOs and underestimate the role of stock market fluctuations that are beyond CEO control. In the third essay we show that increases in the number of Initial Public Offerings reliably predicts in-sample and out-of-sample decreases in subsequent equally weighted aggregate stock returns and the return differential between small and big firms.