This study investigates sustainability performance of Swedish firms through the lens of the upper echelons theory. We test how the size, average age, and proportion of gender in boards of directors (BoDs) and top management teams (TMTs), is related to sustainability performance. While BoDs have been studied in this way several times previously, no other studies, which we are aware of, study the relationship between TMTs and sustainability performance. The study follows a purely quantitative approach and is based on large and mid cap firms on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. The sustainability performance of firms is proxied by the ESG-score issued by Refinitiv. The study finds that the size of both BoDs and TMTs is positively and significantly related to sustainability performance. The relationship for the size of BoDs is particularly strong and significant, whereas the one for TMTs is less so. Regarding the proportion of gender, this variable was also positively and significantly related to sustainability performance, but only for BoDs. Finally, the age variable was insignificant for both BoDs and TMTs.

This study examines small entrepreneurial firms and factors that influence their level of knowledge management and knowledge creation. The dissertation investigates the effect of top management team as a resource in small entrepreneurial firms. Stepping outside of the internal resources of a firm, this paper also delves into the effect of outside sources of capital and knowledge of firm knowledge creation. The paper enriches research on the factors that increase knowledge creation and knowledge management of small entrepreneurial firms. First, in response to evidence that Top Management Team (TMT) characteristics affect performance of high technology firms, this examined TMT average age, education and founder presence effect on the research and development (R&D) intensity, in a cross-sectional sample of software and pharmaceutical firms, with IPOs between the years 2002 and 2004. Average education is positively associated with R&D intensity. The interaction of TMT education and TMT average age negatively affects R&D intensity. TMT education in founders is positively associated with R&D intensity. The first set of results enriches extant research on TMT characteristics’ effect on R&D intensity, which ultimately affects firm performance. Continuing, extant research posits that the research and development (R&D) intensity of firms is highly correlated with knowledge creation as measured by patent citation. This paper argues that there are unexplained variables that moderate the effectiveness of research and development knowledge creation. Using the resource-based view, the top management team (TMT), is examined as an intangible asset. Hypotheses are developed on how high-technology firms’ creation of knowledge, operationalized as their patent citations output, is affected by the TMT characteristics of average age, education level, education background, founder presence, and TMT industry experience. The findings show that TMT education background and TMT industry experience are significant influences on firm patent citation. When controlling for the TMT variables, R&D intensity was not significantly related to patent citation. Finally, research on research and development intensity demonstrates a strong association with patents. At the same time, there is an unexplained gap in the move from research and development to patents in explaining innovation. Prior research assumes that internal resources are preeminent, ignoring the role of external factors. This paper reviews outside resources to assess their effect on patent citation and patent rates. It was found that partnerships with universities and firm geographic location improve innovative activity, whilst grants from the government and partnerships with large firms are not significantly associated with innovative activity. The Board of directors (BOD) has no significant impact on innovative activity. In terms of interaction effect, BOD has a negative interaction effect with geographic clusters. This paper enriches research on the outside resources that increase innovative activity. / Business Administration

The top management team is important to understand as the executives within the top management team would have long-term implications for a firm's investment, operating and financing decisions which would affect the firm value. As these executives may have pre-existing connections outside the current firm, they are likely to be affected by these connections within the top management team. In this dissertation, I draw upon the literature in sociology that discusses different mechanisms of connections; 1) better information transfer, 2) cohesion and better coordination, and 3) favorable treatment to see how the connections within the top management team affects different decisions for the firm using data from 1999 to 2013. First, I find that the executives with connections to the CEO are less likely to be forced out and those with social connections to the CEO enjoy less sensitivity of involuntary turnover to performance. Notably, I find that this is consistent with CEOs favorably treating the connected executives rather than CEOs keeping connected executives for the benefits. Second, I find that firms with greater percentage of executives with connections to the CEO have greater accruals earnings management and lower likelihood of detection of accounting manipulations. I also show that the connections have an effect only when the joint tenure between the CEO and the executives are short. Finally, I document that firms with more closely connected top management team issue management earnings forecasts in a more precise form and issue more frequent and accurate forecasts. I show that this matters more when the top management team’s external network size is small. / Business Administration/Accounting

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第23446号 / 経博第644号 / 新制||経||299(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 澤邉 紀生, 教授 草野 真樹 講師 鈴木 寛之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

Yes / We examine corporate inertia towards circularity transition using organisational case studies, observations, and qualitative interviews with business executives. The study explores how the values and beliefs of business leaders and managers promote or inhibit internal and external stakeholder engagement to enable transition to circular business models. We focus on four large UK food companies, conducting interviews with 11 senior managers. Rather than a lack of awareness of the circular economy (CE), the results demonstrate that business leaders are not persuaded by the short-to medium-term business case for a CE. There is misalignment between values and beliefs of business executives and the circularity values and goals of their organisations. The misaligned values and beliefs inhibit relevant stakeholder engagement for transitions to a CE with responsibility shifted to civil society and public institutions. Management commitment to circularity transitions are at best a sophisticated form of circularity greenwashing. The study further suggests a general lack of collective disposition to foster collaborations with sectoral and supply chain partners to engender circularity transitions due to the absence of any standard systems for CE performance indicators. Circularity education and training play a positive mediatory role in changing negative assumptions, including the promotion of managers' engagement with other relevant stakeholders to build synergies and strategies for CE systems. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of corporate inertia regarding transitions to CE and highlight the relevance of aligning the personal values and beliefs of top management with organisational, sectoral, and supply chain partners’ values and goals.

Yes / Achieving energy efficiency through adoption of energy management practices remain top priorities among industry. Studies focusing on energy management practices are scarce and this area needs to be focused. Building on the perspective of resource-based view and behavioral theory of corporate governance, the purpose of the study is to develop and test an integrative framework linking manufacturing firm's energy management practices (EMPs) to environmental and financial performance through mediating roles played by energy efficiency and audit. The moderating role played by the top management commitment is further examined. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses alongside Hayes' PROCESS to check moderation effects. Results from a survey of 637 employees working in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of Indian manufacturing firms indicate that EMPs result into increased environmental as well as financial performance of the firm. It was also found that energy efficiency mediates the relationship between the adoption of EMPs and environmental performance, amplified by top management commitment. Further, energy audit mediates the effect of EMPs on energy efficiency. The study contributes to offering the new research directions to identify alternatives that monetises environmental concepts such as energy efficiency, leading to higher performance of SMEs. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 20 Dec 2022.

Background: Circular economy (CE) is one of the most recent ways to address environmental sustainability. It aims to extend the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible, and minimize waste generation by maintaining them in the economy for as long as possible to mitigate climate change, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and resource short­ages. Businesses play a crucial part in protecting the environment and have been urged to incorpo­rate CE practices. Leadership and top management have been found crucial for the transi­tion and the CEO has the power to shape strategic plans and directions for the company. Despite the growing research on CE and what influences the transition, literature on individual roles of the top management team is scarce. Existing literature focuses on different factors driv­ing the transition but not the specific roles of the top management team. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to add to the literature regarding CE and how the CEO influences the transition. With this research, we aim to contribute to the current discussion on the transition towards CE, both theoretically and practically. Method: We have conducted a qualitative study with an inductive approach. It follows a relativist ontology and a social constructionism viewpoint. The methodology is an exploratory multi­ple-case study where the companies were selected by purposive sampling. Five companies were selected and in total 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted where we gathered data from both CEOs and their employees. The data was analyzed by combining the Goioa method with Eisenhardt’s multiple case study approach. Conclusion: Based on our findings we identified that the CEO influences the transition towards CE. We distinguished the CEO role within top management and found that they influence CE through strategic management and power. Within strategic management, the CEO influences through setting the strategy, being the decision maker, allocating resources, and setting the direc­tives and goals for the organization. The aspect of power was found to influence the inter­nal organization and external parties. Additionally, we showed how these contributions can be applied practically.

This thesis investigates the interconnections of the factors that a company essentially should possess to implement agile applications and examines the extent to which agility factors are transferable across diverse sectors. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with industry experts and executive ranks across various sectors, this research aims to identify the key factors that are indispensable to organizational agility to successfully implement agility and assess their applicability in diverse organizational contexts. The findings highlight the universal relevance of agility factors such as leadership and vision, top-management support, customer focus, adaptability, collaboration, innovation, resource management, technology utilization, and training and development.

With rapidly advancing technologies and digital innovations, companies face the need to adapt to the new digital world and to digitally transform their business models. For executing the digital transformation process, more and more companies decide to entrust a new C-level manager with all challenges and complexity arising from digital transformation, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). As the CDO position is still fairly new, research in this field is limited and requires further attention by scholars. Therefore, this study aims to address three fundamental research questions concerning the nature of the CDO position and corresponding implications not only to inform practitioners but also to enrich the scholarly discussion on CDOs. By understanding existing literature on CDOs based on a systematic literature review, this thesis answers the first research question regarding what characterizes the CDO position. Building on these insights and drawing from a comprehensive theoretical framework consisting of upper echelons theory, contingency theory, human capital theory and the resource-based view, hypotheses are developed for answering research questions two and three. While the second research question focuses on factors, which influence CDO presence within a company, the third research question addresses the impact of a CDO on company performance. Based on a large-scale sample of panel data comprised of S&P 500 companies, generalized estimating equations models, propensity score matching and fixed effects regression models are exploited in order to derive answers for both research questions two and three. As influencing factors for CDO presence, the results show that especially early tenure CEOs and CEOs of larger companies are more likely to employ a CDO. Although no evidence can be observed for positive performance implications of CDOs, also given different company contingencies, the insights of this study's analyses show that certain CDO characteristics as well as in combination with CIO presence and varying CEO characteristics are more favorable over others in terms of company performance measured by return on assets and Tobin's Q.

Bakgrund: De senaste tjugo åren har HR-rollen fått en mer strategisk inriktning men inte haft en stark position i ledningsgruppsmöten. HR-chefer, framförallt inom den privata sektorn, kan känna sig marginaliserade i ledningsgruppsmöten. Deras deltagande i dessa möten kan vara utmanande eftersom de inte alltid får lika stort utrymme som de andra medlemmarna. Det kan bero på att det finns en okunskap och ett ointresse hos de övriga medlemmarna i ledningsgruppen om hur HR-chefen kan bidra strategiskt. Även om HR-chefen blivit tilldelad en stol vid ledningsgruppsmöten kan deltagandet ändå vara tufft. En stol vid ledningsgruppsmöten behöver inte betyda att funktionens frågor blir prioriterade.  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa en förståelse om hur HR-chefen kan stärka sin strategiska roll i ledningsgruppsmöten. Studien riktar främst in sig på HR-chefer inom privat sektor som arbetar i olika branscher. Metod: I studien användes en kvalitativ metod där studiens författare genomförde åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med olika HR-chefer inom den privata sektorn. HR-cheferna som intervjuades arbetar inom olika branscher och har flera års erfarenhet av HR-arbete. Samtliga HR-chefer som deltagit i studien är medlemmar i verksamhetsledningen och har varit det sedan flera år. En abduktiv ansats användes för att hitta kopplingar mellan det teoretiska och det empiriska materialet.  Slutsats: Studiens slutsats blev att HR-chefers strategiska roll kan stärkas på flera olika sätt. Dels kan HR-chefen själv stärka rollens position och dels kan den stärkas beroende påandras uppfattning och inställning till rollen. Den kan också stärkas av faktorer som HR-chefen inte kan kontrollera, som exempelvis digitaliseringen / Background: For the past twenty years, the HR role has taken a more strategic focus but has not had a strong position in management team meetings. HR managers, especially in the private sector, can feel marginalized in management team meetings. Their participation in this kind of meetings can be challenging since they do not always get as much space as the other members. This may be because there is an ignorance and a lack of interest on the part of the other members of the management team about how the HR manager can contribute strategically. Even if the HR manager has been assigned a chair at management team meetings, participation can still be tough. A chair at the management team meetings does not mean that the function's issues are given priority. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the HR manager can strengthen their strategic role in management team meetings. The study mainly focuses on HR managers in the private sector who work in different industries. Method: The study used a qualitative method where the study's authors conducted eight semi-structured interviews with various HR managers in the private sector. The HR managers who were interviewed work in different industries and have several years of experience in the HR function. All HR managers who participated in the study are members of the management team and have been for several years. An abductive approach was used to find connections between the theoretical and the empirical material. Conclusion: The study concluded that the strategic role of HR managers can be strengthened in several different ways. On the one hand, the HR manager themselves can strengthen the role's position and on the other hand, it can be strengthened depending on others' perception and attitude to the role. It can also be strengthened by factors that the HR manager cannot control, such as digitalisation.