We investigated patterns of power within top management teams (TMTs) by addressing three research questions: What is the shape of TMT power distribution? Is TMT power distribution associated with firm performance? If so, are there distinguishing TMT characteristics between high and low performers? We evaluate these questions using survey data from top managers in 51 hospitals who identified power relationships among their team members. We find that while the CEO is almost always the most powerful TMT member, no teams in our sample have simply a dominant CEO surrounded by powerless team members. We find that the power inequality within a team is positively associated with firm performance. A TMT is more likely to be associated with strong performance when an executive pair garnered most of the power, and when that pair incorporated different world views, as indicated by differences in functional background and industry experience.

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to open up the black boxed TMT process by examining the interaction between TMT members using cognitive and demographic diversity variables, and to see how organisational performance could be affected by the process. By opening the process, a model of the process was developed, which can be tested in further research. The major findings are that there are some aspects that stand out; the CEO and the functional responsibilities that influence the process. Further, the integration within the TMT is not that high, so the upper echelon theory should not be used without considerations on studies where composition is related to organisational performance. These have shown to influence performance in different ways. The functional responsibility has shown to create subgroups that practice problem solving and decision making more frequent than the TMT hence also communicate more.</p>

Corporations nowadays are in a highly accelerated stage, facing an ever-changing environment. It is no longer accomplishable by a one-man team to survive and prosper in such competitive environment. Hambrick & Mason¡¦s upper echelons theory points out that the top management team (TMT) is an organization¡¦s main decision maker, not individuals. The follow-up researches mostly focus on the relationship between TMT and organizational performance, but lack info on the construction of a TMT and its associated operations. It is therefore this research directs its focus towards how, when today¡¦s corporations start to adopt the TMT theory into their strategy, the number of team members, the selection process, member criteria, and the roles and responsibilities, are decided, and what elements will affect the conflicting communication and decision making process. This research is composed by case studies, and the following is a qualitative analysis conclusion of interviews with six corporations and seven senior managers: 1. There is a close-bonding relationship between the construction of TMT and corporation structure, managerial cognition, and corporation size. Mid-level and small corporations usually base their TMT selection on subjective decisions of the owners, while large corporations base TMT selections on protocols, through set channels such as recruitment or promotion. 2. TMT operation is related to corporation structure and owner¡¦s control. The role of TMT on major decision making depends on the owner¡¦s degree of empowerment. Communication between team members tend to be face-to-face communication, and senior management usually see positive conflicts to be of beneficiary value to the organization, while negative conflicts would be controlled under rules and protocols. It is therefore positive conflicts are not avoided, and actually encouraged, to increase innovation in the organization.

The purpose of this thesis was to open up the black boxed TMT process by examining the interaction between TMT members using cognitive and demographic diversity variables, and to see how organisational performance could be affected by the process. By opening the process, a model of the process was developed, which can be tested in further research. The major findings are that there are some aspects that stand out; the CEO and the functional responsibilities that influence the process. Further, the integration within the TMT is not that high, so the upper echelon theory should not be used without considerations on studies where composition is related to organisational performance. These have shown to influence performance in different ways. The functional responsibility has shown to create subgroups that practice problem solving and decision making more frequent than the TMT hence also communicate more.

Despite an abundance of executive turnover research in the context of large public firms, little has focused on top executive change in entrepreneurial settings. This study attempts to develop a foundation of theory and evidence on management team restructuring and executive exit in new venture firms, especially for ventures which eventually go public. Taking a political perspective, the study develops and empirically tests a power model of management team restructuring and executive exit in the pre- and post-IPO periods. A central thesis of this study is that the relative power of the executive cadre shifts as an entrepreneurial firm converts from a private venture to a public company, due to the drastic change in firm political coalition structure and the skill requirements for executives. The change of power distribution among the top executives affects the likelihood of management team restructuring and executive exit. Both firm level and individual level factors were examined. The study also investigates the performance implications of pre-IPO management team restructuring and post-IPO executive exit. Empirical results support the major propositions of the power model. VC prestige was found to have a positive impact on management team restructuring and new executive entry before the IPO. Technical skills are negatively associated with pre-IPO executive exit but positively associated with post-IPO executive exit. The addition of new senior executives in the post-IPO period increases the likelihood of executive exit. In addition, when firm performance is low, adding new outside directors tends to increase the probability of executive exit in the post-IPO stage. The study found that firms that had restructured management teams before the IPO tend to have lower likelihood of executive exit in the post-IPO period. In the post-IPO stage, executives with prior public company managerial experience have a significantly lower likelihood of exit than non-managerial executives. Further, the study found that pre-IPO management team restructuring improves the firm??s pre-money market valuation at the IPO. The exits of managerial executives in the post-IPO period have negative effects on subsequent average ROA. The exits of financial executives negatively affect average shareholder return in the years following the exit events.

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Hambrick and Mason¡]1984¡^, with their ¡§upper echelon¡¨ perspective, proposed that top managers had great influences on organizational performances. Then, more and more scholars paid attention to the issues of the top management teams¡]TMT¡^. Although the impact of top management teams has been widely studied, research that tests the applicability of TMT variables on MNC is zero. The top management teams of the MNC included expatriates and local managers¡]Tung, 1982; Zeira and Shenkar, 1986¡^, would show higher richness and variety. Therefore, this study will use two independent variables: ¡uthe strategic roles of MNC subsidiaries¡vand ¡uthe nationalities of the MNC¡vto study the influences of these two independent variables on the traits, heterogeneity and interaction of the top management teams of the subsidiaries in Taiwan. The traits of the top management teams included the percentages of the local managers, average age, educational level and organizational tenure of the top management teams. The heterogeneity of the top management teams included the variation of the age, educational level and organizational tenure of the top management teams. The interaction of the top management teams included the extent to the social integration, communication frequency, and informal communication of the top management teams. Using ANOVA analysis on samples of 46 manufacturing MNC subsidiaries in Taiwan, the study finds that the strategic roles of the MNC subsidiaries have significant influences on the educational level, social integration and communication frequency of top management teams. In addition, the nationalities of the MNC have significantinfluences on the age, educational level and organizational tenure.

The transition for any executive into a new appointment is a challenge. This transition for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) is especially challenging given the complexity and ambiguous nature of their role. Investment in information technology (IT) has steadily increased over the past twenty years and contributes to enabling business changes that drive organizational performance improvements. The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has evolved into an executive who holds significant responsibility for leading the organization in realizing these investment benefits. Therefore unsuccessful CIO transitions can negatively impact the extent to which the organization’s IT benefits are fully realized. This research has one objective: to increase our understanding of the process of taking charge for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO). This increased understanding contributes to academic research as well as provides insights to practicing CIOs that will increase their probability of successfully taking charge of a new appointment. The project explores this phenomenon in depth from both the CIO’s and non-IT executive’s (CxO) perspective through semi-structured interviews with 43 executives. Participants included twenty-one Chief Information Officers and twenty-two C-suite, non-IT executives. The study integrates concepts from role theory and leader socialization with CIO leadership challenges. Findings indicate that the newly appointed CIO experiences a mutual adjustment process when they take charge. This adjustment occurs within their role set; the IT leadership team, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the other top management team members (CxOs). The data suggests that CIOs experience three overlapping phases of taking charge; Entry, Stabilization and Renewal. These phases result in confidence, credibility and legitimacy as a new leader in the organization. The data further reveals that the type of transition (Start-up, Turnaround, Realignment or Success-sustaining) encountered by the CIO is a significant influence on the taking charge process. CIO socialization is influenced heavily by their role set and the expectations within it. CIOs will encounter CxO peers with varying preferences on interaction style and focus. In addition the CxOs in the study identified three different views of CIOs that reinforce the role ambiguity for the newly appointed CIO. The study reveals that CIOs experience organizational socialization in two domains of leadership. These domains are supply-side and demand-side leadership. The data suggests that supply-side socialization occurs prior to demand-side socialization. These socialization outcomes are dependent on transition type. This research extends previous work done on CIO transitions by identifying phases, activities and outcomes. An additional contribution is the first empirical model of new CIO socialization. Leader socialization research is enhanced with the study of a non-CEO executive. This model contributes a deeper understanding of the mutual adjustment process experienced by a newly appointed CIO. Practicing CIOs can apply these findings in developing transition plans and actions for taking a new appointment. The CxO types and attitudes can inform the newly appointed CIO on customizing their relationship building approaches. Understanding that taking charge requires 2-3 years can lead to more realistic expectations of the executive. The findings of this study can lead CIOs to a higher probability of success in taking charge of a new appointment.

Research has been conducted regarding what relationship demographic diversity have to organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; however never at the same time. This research adds a new context, to this field of research since research has never, to our knowledge, been conducted in a school context. The purpose with this thesis is to explain what relationships gender, age, cultural and tenure diversity have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience. A cross-sectional research design was used, because of the positivist and deductive approach. The method consisted of a quantitative part in the form of a web based self-completion questionnaire mediated by email, to upper secondary schools, in five Counties, with a minimum of three managers. The qualitative part was in the form of three in-depth interviews, two with School Directors and one with a registrar. The findings shows that gender, culture have a negative relationship to organisational ambidexterity, and age have a positive relationship when moderated by shared vision. The limitations are that only schools with a minimum of three top managers were chosen; the results thereby lack generalisability in other contexts. The implications are that shared vision, when applied to an upper secondary school context seem to decrease in importance and suggestibility. The original value of the conducted study is new insights regarding the relationships demographic diversities have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; the choice to conduct the test in a school context.

This study tests a theoretical model developed to investigate the impact of assimilation of commercial open source enterprise resource planning software (COSES) in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the model explains how the top management team’s (TMT’s) information technology (IT) knowledge and experience impact both assimilation and firm performance. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from SMEs that have implemented COSES. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that SMEs benefit, through higher levels of assimilation and performance, from adopting innovative enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as COSES when they have a TMT that has experience with and is knowledgeable about technology. The study also highlights the importance of the TMT in facilitating IT assimilation.