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

The diploma thesis is dedicated to the purpose and importance of knowledge management. The aim of this work is to describe the chief knowledge officer position in the knowledge society. It defines its roles and identifies competencies that are keys to success of this position. It unveils impact and responsibilities of chief knowledge officer in a knowledge organization. It assesses and predicts development of this position. The thesis can be divided into two parts, theoretical and empirical. First chapters focus on the theory in the field of knowledge management, knowledge society and furthermore it focuses on the position chief knowledge officer, its development and competencies. The thesis contains also an analysis of research from foreign countries. Empirical part of the thesis includes interviews with representatives on the position chief knowledge officer. Keywords: Knowledge management Chief knowledge officer Knowledge society Intellectual capital Enterprises

It is widely held that CEOs are central to the successful financial performance of companies. Yet, little attention has been given to the correlation between CEO tenure and financial performance of companies specifically. The purpose of this study was to determine whether CEO tenure has an impact on financial performance of companies in South Africa. The financial performance variables for the study were ROA and ROE. The performance of 30 JSE listed companies from three industries, namely, mining, retail and real estate, between 1995 to 2007 was examined. This gave a total of 62 data observations across the selected three tenure categories: short tenure (one to three years); medium tenure (four to five years); and long tenure (six or more years). The results showed that the average tenure for South African CEOs was four years; this was slightly lower than the findings of previous studies conducted in the USA. Medium and long tenure showed better financial performance for ROA than short tenure, while there was no statistically significant finding for ROE. Therefore from an ROA point of view, as tenure increases so does financial performance, until a certain point at which it is anticipated that lengthy tenure will lead to a decline in financial performance. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Leaders in the healthcare setting are challenged with competing responsibilities as they seek to provide high-quality services, ensure the implementation of safety measures, and engage in workforce maintenance. Many researchers have described innovation as a strategic approach to organizational concerns and have noted a failure to implement innovative measures in healthcare. This study was an investigation of the impact of ambidexterity in healthcare leaders on innovation. The purpose of this quantitative study, guided by the ambidexterity theory of leadership for innovation, was to analyze the extent to which ambidextrous leadership characteristics of healthcare executives and chief nursing officers (CNOs) influence the innovative performance of CNOs in the healthcare setting. The research question addressed which ambidextrous leadership behaviors or combination of behaviors, including open and closed behaviors of healthcare executives and exploration and exploitation actions of CNOs in healthcare settings, explain a statistically significant portion of the variance in innovative performance of CNOs. The research design involved the administration of a cross-sectional quantitative survey to 126 CNOs from across the nation. Each participant was employed by an acute-care hospital, held an active nursing license in the state employed, and had been in the role of CNO or chief nursing executive (CNE) for over a year, reporting directly to executive leadership. A linear multiple regression analyzed the correlation between ambidextrous factors and the effect on performance innovation. Findings suggest that a combination of ambidextrous behaviors had more impact on innovation performance than each set of behaviors alone. The results of the study may be used for the development of nursing leadership and supporting efforts for overall improvement in healthcare.

This study investigates the relationship between female representation, women as chief executive officers, and corporate sustainability disclosures in Swedish listed companies. The used data was collected from the Swedish listed companies in Nasdaq Stockholm for the period 2017-2020. The specific research period is due to the new amendments of the Swedish Annual Accounts Act (Årsredovisningslagen) which came into force 2017. To investigate the effect female representation, and women as chief executive officers have on the legally issued corporate sustainability disclosures, this study applies content analysis and quantitative methods. By estimating multiple regression models, the results revealed a non-significant relationship of female representation on the board of directors and of women as chief executive officers, on the quality of corporate sustainability disclosures. For the critical mass of at least three women, a non-significant impact is detected. Lastly, an additional test for reversed causality has been conducted, however no significant relationship was documented.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between academic emphasis and executive leadership from the perspective of a California charter management organization (CMO) chief executive officer (CEO). Executive leaders in California CMOs have a unique perspective that needs investigated. They experience educational leadership differently depending upon their individual backgrounds, educational experiences, and the families they serve. This study seeks to understand the experiences of a specific group of executive leaders and how they define academic emphasis in their CMO. The theoretical framework used to interpret the research findings was instructional leadership. The framework effectively built a lens for the reader to conceptualize the research of this study. The theoretical framework worked to guide and frame interpretation of respondent data. The research served to inform the research questions, not answer them explicitly. The research used a qualitative case study design approach focused on the story of the lived experience from the individual. The design aspired to interpret meanings and experiences from responses to uncover deep and detailed understanding. A CMO CEO responded to semi-structured interview questions. The interview protocol consisted of various question types: open-ended questions, follow-up questions, and classification questions. As transformational and educational leadership collide in Dr. Viviane Robinson’s current instructional leadership framework, the capability that is not explicitly presented is the ability for school leaders to build capacity for equity consciousness in all teammates in their organization and/or school. The findings from this study suggested that a fourth leadership capability is emerging in Dr. Robinson’s framework. There is a critical need for organization and school leaders to be equipped with the skills to seed an equity consciousness across teammates and other stakeholders.

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.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of, and the perceived responsibilities of chief financial officers in California single and multi-district community colleges. This study sought to answer questions about how current CFOs in California Community Colleges perceive the necessary skills and the value of job and professional development to do their job. This study focused on three research questions: 1) What do current California Community College CFOs perceive to be necessary preparation and skills and 2) How do current California Community College CFOs acquire the skills they believe necessary to be a California Community College CFO? 3) What are the demographic characteristics of California Community College CFOs? A survey with both structured closed and open-ended questions was used to identify what 110 California Community College CFOs perceive to be the necessary preparation, skills, and professional preparation is needed to be an effective community college CFO. The majority of the community college CFOs of California are white males between the age of 50 and 59 who are likely to retire within the next ten years. Women constitute 33 percent of the CFOs; 17 percent are African American; 8.5 percent Asians; and Hispanics, the fastest growing minority group in California, made up only 1.7% of the respondents. In this study, the data showed that California's current CFOs are highly educated and bring an average of 12 years of experience to their position. They tend to work in urban, ethnically diverse Hispanic serving community colleges with average student enrollments of 15 to 20 thousand unduplicated student head count. These seasoned CFOs identified skills and on the job experiences they felt were important to being a community college CFO. The identified skills and experiences provide data that can support the development of a comprehensive mentoring, training and professional development program that closely aligns with the needs of California's community college CFOs.

In Hans Zender’s oeuvre manifold traces of an intense confrontation with intercultural questions can be found. More specifically, many of Zender’s works relate to East Asian cultures. Generally, Zender highlights heterogeneity and his concepts of interculturality seem to be opposed to a hybrid mixture of idioms as described by the term »creolisation«. Most recently Zender’s opera Chief Joseph (2001-2003), a complex work about cultural conflict, oscillated between familiarity and strangeness, between descriptive and cryptic layers. Zender has referred to the ancient Chinese magical square luo shu and to ancient Chinese theories of tuning to widen eurocentric discourses of contemporary music, although the references in his scores can often hardly be labelled specifically »Asian«. On a similar conceptual level, three main traditions from East Asian philosophy have had substantial influences on him, namely: the anti-logocentric ideas of Zen-Buddhism (obviously partly triggered by John Cage), the Confucian ideals of music set forth in the ancient »Book of Rites« Liji, and the philosophers of the Kyoto-School – mainly Kitaro Nishida and his idea of »pure experience«. Zender’s works such as Fünf Haiku (1982) or Lo-Shu VI (1989) exemplify the composer’s transformation of traditional Japanese aesthetics into forms of obvious simplicity that establish a continuous change between uninterrupted flow and sudden silence. The notion of a »dissolution of time« is present in these pieces as well as in the earlier Muji no kyo (1975) which, conversely, ends in an intensification of the musical structure on all levels. Likewise, Furin no kyo (1989) and Nanzen no kyo (1992) superimpose different concepts of time associated with different cultures. In the final section of Furin no kyo the superimposition of different concepts of time and languages results in a collage-like microstructure. These examples confirm that Zender’s aesthetic focuses on contradiction and does not aim to harmonise cultural differences or conflicts. For Hans Zender interculturality means a fundamental »concussion of [established] meanings« (Roland Barthes).

The police force has shown itself to be a workplace that often suffers from burnout syndrome. In turn, this leads to a reduced desire to work among the employees and it can even go as far as voluntary termination. Previous research describes that praise has a good effect on employee’s motivation towards work, which is an important factor of success within organizations. People can find themselves motivated in different ways. One may feel motivated due to a form of self-interest while another may feel motivated due to some type of external pressure and compulsion. How praise in turn affects different types of motivation within the police is however unexplored. The purpose of the thesis is therefore to investigate how verbal rewards in the form of praise from chiefs can affect police officers' work motivation. To answer the purpose of the essay, a qualitative interview study was conducted on police officers. The choice of police officers in external service was based on the fact that it is an occupational group who circulate out in society and face many different types of challenges and stressful efforts daily at work. Therefore, it was seen as particularly interesting to study whether their work motivation is affected by praise. The focus of the study has been to investigate how police officers receive praise, in which way they prefer to receive praise and finally how praise affects their work motivation. Eleven police officers on external duty have been interviewed. The study shows that the effect of praise from the chief of police on the police's work motivation varies. During our thesis, we highlight four different types of motivation, which we then investigate whether praise from the manager has an effect on or not. Worth mentioning is that the majority of police officers do not see praise as the primary focus in their work. Many police officers see themselves getting driven by their own goals and not least by the society for which they work. However, the study shows that praise tends to influence their various motivations to a certain extent. / Poliskåren har visat sig vara en arbetsplats som ofta drabbas av utmattningssyndrom. I sin tur leder detta till minskad arbetslust hos de anställda och det kan till och med gå så långt som till frivillig uppsägning. Tidigare forskning beskriver att beröm har en god påverkan på arbetsmotivation hos medarbetare och arbetsmotivation är en viktig framgångsfaktor inom organisationer. Människor kan i sin tur uppleva sig motiverade på olika sätt. En individ kan känna motivation på grund av ett eget intresse medan en annan kan känna motivation på grund av någon typ av externt tvång. Hur beröm i sin tur påverkar olika motivationstyper inom polisen är emellertid outforskat. Syftet med uppsatsen är därav att undersöka hur verbala belöningar i form av beröm från chefen påverkar polisers arbetsmotivation. För att besvara syftet med arbetet har vi genomfört en kvalitativ intervjustudie på poliser. Valet föll på poliser i yttre tjänst då det är en yrkesgrupp som dagligen rör sig ute i samhället och stöter på många olika typer av utmaningar och påfrestande arbetsinsatser. På grund av det sågs det extra intressant att studera huruvida deras arbetsmotivation påverkas av beröm. Fokus i studien har varit att undersöka hur poliser får beröm, hur beröm påverkar deras arbetsmotivation och på vilket sätt de själva föredrar att få beröm på. Sammantaget har elva poliser i yttre tjänst intervjuats. Studien visar att hur beröm från chefen påverkar polisens arbetsmotivation varierar. I arbetet lyfter vi fyra olika motivationstyper som vi sedan undersöker huruvida beröm från chefen påverkar eller inte. Värt att nämna är att majoriteten av poliserna inte ser beröm som det primära i deras arbete. Många ser sig själv drivas av sina egna mål och inte minst samhället som de arbetar för. Däremot visar undersökningen att beröm tenderar att påverka deras olika motivationer i viss mån.