This study examined the relationship between top management team (TMT) characteristics, internationalization, and firm performance. Twelve TMT demographic characteristics were included in the analysis: average team age, level of education, source of education, educational specialty, organizational tenure, job tenure, team size, functional background, age heterogeneity, organizational tenure heterogeneity, job tenure heterogeneity, and functional background heterogeneity. Internationalization was measured on three levels: percentage of total sales attributed to foreign sales, number of products sold in the international marketplace, and the level of standardization for the products sold in the international marketplace. A sample of 89 Fortune 500 firms with levels of international business involvement ranging from less than 10 percent to over 60 percent of firm's total sales was used in the study. Nine (9) hypotheses which maintain that internationalization will moderate the relationship between specific TMT characteristics and firm performance were tested. The results suggest that smaller TMTs which have managers with longer organizational tenure, shorter job tenure, and greater diversity of functional background will contribute most to the performance of firms with high levels of international business involvement. The results provide further confirmation of Hambrick and Mason's (1984) "upper echelon" theory. Further, the results suggest that internationalization can moderate the relationship between TMT characteristics and firm performance. The implications of these results are discussed at length in Chapter 5. Tables, figures, and appendices are included. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0642. / Major Professor: James J. Hoffman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77113 |
| Contributors | L'Heureux, Richard Allen., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 207 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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