Studien syftar till att undersöka om investerare anser att kvinnliga verkställande direktörer (VD) tillför värde till företaget genom att studera marknadsreaktionen när kvinnliga VD:ar tillkännages. Studien undersöker även om VD:ns erfarenheter och egenskaper, enligt Upper Echelons Theory, har en effekt på studerad marknadsreaktion. Studien avgränsas till den svenska marknaden där företag på Nasdaq Stockholm samt First North inkluderas, där urvalet består av 49 företag. Marknadens reaktion vid tillkännagivande av nya, kvinnliga VD:ar operationaliseras till den abnormala avkastningen vid eventdagen enligt marknadsmodellen, och tas fram för tio dagar innan tillkännagivandet till och med tio dagar efter. Resultatet visar att investerare är positivt inställda till kvinnliga VD:ar och anser de värdeskapande då signifikant positiv abnormal avkastning kan utläsas. Avseende antaganden om att VD:ns erfarenheter och egenskaper har effekt på marknadens reaktion finner studien inga signifikanta resultat och gör att hypoteserna varken kan förkastas eller accepteras.

Recent research has investigated the moderating effects of environmental characteristics on the relationships between top management team heterogeneities and firm performance but has given little attention to the moderating role of board composition. This study examines the moderating effects of the proportion of outside board membership on the relationships between top management team heterogeneities and firm performance. The upper echelons theory would contend that outside directors with their valuable resources (information, skills, and network) and the tendency to challenge and initiate cognitive conflicts with top management teams can improve the quality of strategic decision making process and firm performance. To test these predictions, it is hypothesized that the greater the proportion of outside directors, the more positive the relationship between top management team tenure heterogeneity, educational heterogeneity, functional background heterogeneity, and firm performance. Fortune 500 companies were chosen as the sample of the study. I utilized moderated hierarchical regression to analyze the data. The results do not support the predictions. Several theoretical and methodological issues are discussed.

Background. Sweden is one the countries that have the highest survival rate amongst new companies in all of Europe but still it is only about 60 percent out of start-ups that survive the first five years [51]. The data from looking over longer time periods also shows a 60 percent survival rate for a five-year period [51]. CEO characteristics and strategic choices impact the success and growth of the company and therefore impact whether the company survives or not. Objectives. The purpose of this master thesis is to see how CEO characteristics and strategic choices impact or/and increase company success and growth for small business (SB) in the IT consultant industry in Sweden. The CEO characteristics that will be researched is age, tenure, education, prior work experience and if the current CEO is the founder or not. The strategic choices that will be research is investing resources, cash holdings, different types of mergers and acquisitions and if the expertise within in the business are broad or specialized. Methods. The collected primary and secondary data are retrieved from companies that was defined small in the year 2012 to see their performance until 2019. The primary data was gathered by sending out a survey to CEO in the company. Multiple regression will be used on the data to see what CEO characteristics and strategy choices impact company growth. What CEO characteristics influence the choice of strategy will be research with correlation. Results. The result indicated that CEO education, prior work experience and the CEO being founder had the most impact on company growth out of the CEO characteristics. From the strategic choices the result indicated that investing resources and having a broad expertise had the most impact on company growth. Conclusions. The conclusion indicated that CEO characteristics and strategic choices impact company growth but there was no evidence in this research that the CEO characteristics influenced the choice of strategy.

Resultatjustering är ett hot mot trovärdigheten i den finansiella rapporteringen, och är ett ämne som erhållit mycket uppmärksamhet i tidigare forskning. Dock domineras den tidigare forskningen av studier på publika bolag, trots att det givits indikationer på att resultatjustering förekommer mer i en privat kontext. Under senare år har det dessutom framkommit att redovisningsval kan förklaras utifrån ledande befattningshavares individuella karaktärsdrag, förenligt med upper echelons theory. En förutsättning för resultatjustering är således att upprättaren av redovisningen är benägen till det. Förekommandet av resultatjustering i de finansiella rapporterna är utöver en benägenhet från upprättaren även beroende av revisorns förmåga att förhindra det. Eftersom forskning saknas i en svensk privat kontext, finns ett behov av en ökad förståelse om situationer utsatta för resultatjustering både från upprättarens och revisorns perspektiv. Studiens resultat indikerar att resultatjustering förekommer mindre i de svenska privata bolag som drivs av en gift VD. Därtill antyder resultatet att resultatjustering förekommer mindre i de svenska privata bolag som revideras av en kvinnlig revisor, samt i de svenska privata bolag som betalar ett högre revisionsarvode. / Earnings management is a reliability threat in financial reporting, and is a subject which has gained considerable attention in previous research. However, most previous research has focused on public companies, even though indications has been given that earnings management is more prominent in private companies. In recent studies, choices of accounting methods have also showed to be explained by characteristics of the top management, consistent with upper echelons theory. Hence, a precondition for earnings management to occur is a willingness by the accountor to implement it. Besides this willingness, earnings management is affected by the auditor’s ability to prevent it. Due to the empirical gap in a Swedish private context, there is a need for increased understanding of conditions where earnings management tends to occur, both from the perspective of the accountor and the auditor. The study ́s result indicates that earnings management is less present in Swedish private companies with a married CEO. The result further suggests that earnings management is less present in Swedish private companies audited by a female auditor, and in Swedish private companies paying a higher audit fee.

The manager's personal wealth is one of the central building blocks of agency theory, which considers wealth to be an especially important source of individual utility. The managers' financial position, or the portion of their financial well-being that is not dependent on the firm, is also introduced in the original formulation of upper echelons theory. However, despite the importance of executive personal wealth to both theories, it is rarely mentioned, and even more scarcely studied. My research builds on and extends agency and upper echelons theories by focusing on executive personal wealth, defined here as the portion of executive net worth that is not attached to current employment at the firm (i.e., not contingent on current or future earnings). As such, this research provides an initial answer to the following research question: how does the average personal wealth of the top management team as well as within-team differences in wealth influence firm strategic choices with respect to risk? Specifically, I argue that external wealth alters how managers view firm decisions regarding risk; thus, I hypothesize that average top management team (TMT) wealth is negatively related to firm unrelated diversification, positively related to R&D investments, and positively related to firm risk. Next, I propose that two types of within-group diversity ? TMT wealth diversity and TMT pay dispersion ? attenuate the effect of average TMT wealth on these firm outcomes. I test my hypotheses on a panel dataset of over 700 firms/TMTs from the S&P1500 over 2002?2008 using panel tobit and fixed effect models, and conduct multiple robustness checks. Empirical results strongly and consistently support the hypothesized main effects of wealth. However, the results regarding the moderating effect of within-group diversity are weak, as the majority of the moderation hypotheses are not supported. The main conclusion is that wealthier TMTs are less risk averse with respect to firm strategic decisions, which manifests in greater R&D spending, lower unrelated diversification, and higher overall firm risk. Theoretical and empirical implications as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.

Background Nowadays the amount of research regarding the family business context has improved meaningfully. However, the field of family business could still be considered immature and with existing gaps in its literature. Thereby, several studies in the family business context have discussed the topic of risk-taking, which establishes its crucial importance as a topic within in the field. Thus, risk-taking is a topic of the utmost importance for any given organization in terms of growth regardless if it is a family firm or non-family firm. However, in order to enact such levels of growth, the firms’ CEOs are required to engage in managerial risk-taking behaviors. Here, managerial risktaking is explained through the lens of the upper echelons theory which aids to understand the different perspectives (e.g., age, tenure, education and prior work experiences) CEOs utilize to take risk in their daily activities. Purpose Through the identified fundamental experiences affecting the managerial risk-taking behaviors of CEOs, the purpose of this thesis, through the lens of the upper-echelons theory, is to research how CEOs experiences influence their managerial risk-taking behaviors inside family businesses. Method This thesis followed a quantitative research approach, by analyzing a sample of 100 family firms and their CEOs across Scandinavia. Here, the data was collected via the public database “Amadeus” and complemented with supporting sources such as “LinkedIn” and companies’ websites. Lastly, multiple statistical tests were performed to further asses and explore the collected data. Findings The final results of this thesis were unable to determine to what degree the independent variables of CEOs’ experiences (age, tenure, education and prior work experiences) influence the dependent variable of managerial risk-taking behaviors. In our case, the controlling variables of firm size and CEOs being part of the board showed to have a significant effect on the managerial risk-taking behaviors of CEOs.

No description available.

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.

Dentre os componentes da estratégia dos prestadores de serviços, a determinação de custos, margens e preços finais se constitui como elemento de elevada importância para manutenção da viabilidade econômica, dentro de um mercado que exige melhores serviços, com a manutenção de custos em patamares que permitam rentabilidade frente aos reembolsos e assegurem uma posição de captação e manutenção de clientes. As pequenas e médias empresas têm importante papel socio-econômico no cenário nacional, e há uma percepção de falta de práticas gerenciais adequadas no setor de medicina veterinária. Alega-se que o conhecimento contábil exerce papel central na adoção das práticas utilizadas. Desta forma, a pesquisa é conduzida no setor de serviços de clínica médica veterinária para avaliar empiricamente o nível de conhecimento contábil conceitual dos gestores, quais variáveis contingenciais e pessoais interferem no conhecimento contábil e de que forma esse conhecimento interfere nas práticas gerenciais. A bibliografia indica que o conhecimento contábil é importante variável contingente, afetando as práticas e o desempenho das organizações. A Upper Echelons Theory argumenta que uma organização é reflexo da decisão de seus gestores e que atributos pessoais observáveis do gestor podem ser utilizados como meio de influência das práticas adotadas. A pesquisa contribui para a literatura a respeito de Teoria da Contingência e Upper Echelons Theory. A metodologia aplicada nesta pesquisa foi um survey com 30 itens, divididos em blocos de identificação do perfil organizacional e pessoal do gestor, avaliação de conhecimentos contábeis e rotinas de determinação de custos, margens e preços. Foram obtidas 167 respostas cuja análise permitiu retratar um nível de conhecimento de conceitos contábeis mediano, sem o refinamento dos métodos de custeio variável, margem de contribuição e aplicação de custos na determinação de preços. O nível de conhecimento foi impactado pelas variáveis contingenciais: localização geográfica e presença de gestão profissional. Atributos pessoais do gestor que refletiram diferenças de nível de conhecimento contábil foram: formação acadêmica, grau de formação e horas de capacitação técnica em gestão. O conhecimento, quando considerado a variável contingente, foi determinante das práticas utilizadas de custo, margem e precificação. Há uma percepção de descontentamento com os próprios conhecimentos por parte dos empresários que apontam a falta de conhecimento e a falta de profissionais habilitados como os principais obstáculos para uma melhor gestão. Não houve identificação de contadores como gestores na amostra e os respondentes indicam o não oferecimento do serviço por parte do profissional contábil que os assessora como o principal motivo para o afastamento. Há indícios de que quanto maior o nível de conhecimento, melhor o desempenho financeiro e oportunidades para diferenciação. São apresentadas proposições de aproximação de profissionais contábeis capacitados e empresários, assim como sugestões e oportunidades de pesquisas futuras no campo da Upper Echelons Theory e no conhecimento como determinante de melhor desempenho empresarial. / Among the components of the strategy of service providers, determining costs, margins and final price is a highly important element to maintaining economic viability within a market that demands better services, but maintaining costs at levels that allow profitability front of repayments and ensures capturing and maintaining customers. Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important socio-economic role on the national scene and there is a perceived lack of appropriate managerial practices in the veterinary medicine sector. It is claimed that the accounting knowledge plays a central role in the adoption of the practices used. Thus, the research aims to be conducted in veterinary medical clinic services sector to empirically assess the level of conceptual knowledge of accounting managers, which contingency and personal variables interfere in accounting knowledge and how the accouting knowledge interferes in management practices. The literature indicates that this kind of knowledge is important contingent variable affecting the practices and the performance of organizations. The Upper Echelons Theory argues that an organization reflects the decision of its managers and observable personal attributes manager can be used as a means of influence of the practices adopted. The research contributes to the literature on the Contingency Theory and Upper Echelons Theory. The methodology used in this study was a survey with 30 items, divided into three blocks: organizational and manager profile identification, evaluation of accounting knowledge and routines for determining costs, margins and prices. 167 responses were obtained whose analysis allowed portray a median level of knowledge of accounting concepts, without the refinement of variable costing methods, contribution margin and compliance costs in pricing. Level of knowledge was impacted by the following contingency variables: geographic location and the presence of professional management. Personal manager attributes that reflect level of accounting knowledge differences were: academic background, level of training and hours of technical training in management. Knowledge, when considered the contingent variable was determining in the practices of cost, margin and pricing. There is a perception of entrepreneur discontent with their own knowledge and point to the lack of knowledge and lack of skilled professionals as the main obstacles for better management. There was no counters as managers in the sample and the respondents indicate not offer the service by the accounting professional that assists as the main reason for the withdrawal. There is evidence that the higher the level of knowledge, better financial performance and opportunities for differentiation. Propositions are presented in an effort to approximate qualified accounting professionals and entrepreneurs as well as suggestions and future research opportunities in the field of Upper Echelons Theory and knowledge as a key to better business performance.

Dentre os componentes da estratégia dos prestadores de serviços, a determinação de custos, margens e preços finais se constitui como elemento de elevada importância para manutenção da viabilidade econômica, dentro de um mercado que exige melhores serviços, com a manutenção de custos em patamares que permitam rentabilidade frente aos reembolsos e assegurem uma posição de captação e manutenção de clientes. As pequenas e médias empresas têm importante papel socio-econômico no cenário nacional, e há uma percepção de falta de práticas gerenciais adequadas no setor de medicina veterinária. Alega-se que o conhecimento contábil exerce papel central na adoção das práticas utilizadas. Desta forma, a pesquisa é conduzida no setor de serviços de clínica médica veterinária para avaliar empiricamente o nível de conhecimento contábil conceitual dos gestores, quais variáveis contingenciais e pessoais interferem no conhecimento contábil e de que forma esse conhecimento interfere nas práticas gerenciais. A bibliografia indica que o conhecimento contábil é importante variável contingente, afetando as práticas e o desempenho das organizações. A Upper Echelons Theory argumenta que uma organização é reflexo da decisão de seus gestores e que atributos pessoais observáveis do gestor podem ser utilizados como meio de influência das práticas adotadas. A pesquisa contribui para a literatura a respeito de Teoria da Contingência e Upper Echelons Theory. A metodologia aplicada nesta pesquisa foi um survey com 30 itens, divididos em blocos de identificação do perfil organizacional e pessoal do gestor, avaliação de conhecimentos contábeis e rotinas de determinação de custos, margens e preços. Foram obtidas 167 respostas cuja análise permitiu retratar um nível de conhecimento de conceitos contábeis mediano, sem o refinamento dos métodos de custeio variável, margem de contribuição e aplicação de custos na determinação de preços. O nível de conhecimento foi impactado pelas variáveis contingenciais: localização geográfica e presença de gestão profissional. Atributos pessoais do gestor que refletiram diferenças de nível de conhecimento contábil foram: formação acadêmica, grau de formação e horas de capacitação técnica em gestão. O conhecimento, quando considerado a variável contingente, foi determinante das práticas utilizadas de custo, margem e precificação. Há uma percepção de descontentamento com os próprios conhecimentos por parte dos empresários que apontam a falta de conhecimento e a falta de profissionais habilitados como os principais obstáculos para uma melhor gestão. Não houve identificação de contadores como gestores na amostra e os respondentes indicam o não oferecimento do serviço por parte do profissional contábil que os assessora como o principal motivo para o afastamento. Há indícios de que quanto maior o nível de conhecimento, melhor o desempenho financeiro e oportunidades para diferenciação. São apresentadas proposições de aproximação de profissionais contábeis capacitados e empresários, assim como sugestões e oportunidades de pesquisas futuras no campo da Upper Echelons Theory e no conhecimento como determinante de melhor desempenho empresarial. / Among the components of the strategy of service providers, determining costs, margins and final price is a highly important element to maintaining economic viability within a market that demands better services, but maintaining costs at levels that allow profitability front of repayments and ensures capturing and maintaining customers. Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important socio-economic role on the national scene and there is a perceived lack of appropriate managerial practices in the veterinary medicine sector. It is claimed that the accounting knowledge plays a central role in the adoption of the practices used. Thus, the research aims to be conducted in veterinary medical clinic services sector to empirically assess the level of conceptual knowledge of accounting managers, which contingency and personal variables interfere in accounting knowledge and how the accouting knowledge interferes in management practices. The literature indicates that this kind of knowledge is important contingent variable affecting the practices and the performance of organizations. The Upper Echelons Theory argues that an organization reflects the decision of its managers and observable personal attributes manager can be used as a means of influence of the practices adopted. The research contributes to the literature on the Contingency Theory and Upper Echelons Theory. The methodology used in this study was a survey with 30 items, divided into three blocks: organizational and manager profile identification, evaluation of accounting knowledge and routines for determining costs, margins and prices. 167 responses were obtained whose analysis allowed portray a median level of knowledge of accounting concepts, without the refinement of variable costing methods, contribution margin and compliance costs in pricing. Level of knowledge was impacted by the following contingency variables: geographic location and the presence of professional management. Personal manager attributes that reflect level of accounting knowledge differences were: academic background, level of training and hours of technical training in management. Knowledge, when considered the contingent variable was determining in the practices of cost, margin and pricing. There is a perception of entrepreneur discontent with their own knowledge and point to the lack of knowledge and lack of skilled professionals as the main obstacles for better management. There was no counters as managers in the sample and the respondents indicate not offer the service by the accounting professional that assists as the main reason for the withdrawal. There is evidence that the higher the level of knowledge, better financial performance and opportunities for differentiation. Propositions are presented in an effort to approximate qualified accounting professionals and entrepreneurs as well as suggestions and future research opportunities in the field of Upper Echelons Theory and knowledge as a key to better business performance.