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Senior Executives (senior + executive)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	77%

Selected Abstracts

Managers as Monitors: An Analysis of the Non-executive Role of Senior Executives in UK Companies

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2000
Noel O'Sullivan
An important aspect of current governance practice is the use of non-executive directors to monitor the behaviour of company management. This paper examines the extent to which senior executives are utilized as non-executives in large UK companies. The results suggest that executive directors are not an important source of non-executive directors. The average number of non-executive directorships held by each executive is 0.22. Indeed, 85% of executives hold no additional directorships. The holding of non-executive directorships is positively related to the strength of board monitoring in the executive's company, executive tenure and company size. Executives in companies with greater growth opportunities and operating in regulated industries are less likely to hold non-executive directorships. [source]

The Odyssey of Senior Public Service: What Memoirs Can Teach Us

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2003
J. Patrick Dobel
This article examines the political, psychological, and moral challenges of senior public service in the executive office. The study uses memoirs published by members of the Clinton administration. The memoirs discuss the consistent background conditions of senior public service as the personality of the chief executive, the vagaries of election cycles, the tension between staff and agency executives, and the role of the media. Senior executives adopt a number of stances to address the tension between the realities of public service and the ideals they bring. The memoirs suggest several stances, such as politics as original sin, seduction, hard work and compromise, and game. The memoirs demonstrate the high cumulative cost that public service exacts on the health and personal lives of senior officials. Finally, the study reveals a number of consistent themes about how senior appointed public officials can navigate the dilemmas and challenges of senior public service at all levels of government. [source]

Comparing senior executive and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Chinese Delphi study

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010
Shan Liu
Abstract The success rate for information technology (IT) projects continues to be low. With an increasing number of IT projects in developing countries such as China, it is important to understand the risks they are experiencing on IT projects. To date, there has been little research documenting Asian perceptions of IT project risk. In this research, we examine the risks identified by Chinese senior executives (SEs) and project managers (PMs), and compare these two groups. The importance of top management support in IT projects is well documented. Prior research has shown that from the perspective of IT PMs, lack of support from SEs is the number one risk in IT projects. Surprisingly, senior executives' perceptions towards IT project risk have never been systematically examined. One reason why lack of support from senior executives continues to represent a major risk may be that senior executives themselves do not realize the critical role that they can play in helping to deliver successful projects. In this study, we use the Delphi method to compare the risk perceptions of senior executives and project managers. By comparing risk factors selected by each group, zones of concordance and discordance are identified. In terms of perceived importance ascribed to risk factors, PMs tend to focus on lower-level risks with particular emphasis on risks associated with requirements and user involvement, whereas SEs tend to focus on higher-level risks such as those risks involving politics, organization structure, process, and culture. Finally, approaches for dealing with risk factors that are seen as important by both SEs and PMs are provided. [source]

Philanthropy, social capital or strategic alliance?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 3 2002
The involvement of senior UK business executives with the voluntary sector, implications for corporate fundraising
Although corporate fundraising is popular there has been very little discussion in the voluntary sector literature of its context. Using questionnaire data from senior executives representing one-third of the FTSE350 companies, and in-depth interviews with a number of top level business men, this paper reports the first UK survey of the personal involvement of senior executives with charities, voluntary and community organisations,[Walker, C. and Pharoah, C. (2000) ,Making time for charity: A survey of top business leaders' involvement with voluntary organisations', Charities Aid Foundation, Kent.] and pinpoints messages about corporate involvement which may help fundraisers develop corporate fundraising strategies. The data give the first indications of how many of the UK's top business executives give time to charity, how much time they give and what they do. It also addresses what there is to gain for and from the charity, the senior executive and their company. The results present a picture of widespread and enthusiastic involvement of senior executives with the voluntary sector; a picture of both a deep personal commitment and of a strong sense of corporate benefit. The survey also raises several important issues and implications for corporate fundraising: should charities be doing more to attract top executives into an active relationship with them? How can they do this? What are the pros and cons of an alliance between corporate figureheads and charitable organisations; how might this relationship be viewed by the public; and how might it best be managed? This paper draws on the results of the survey to illustrate and discuss these issues. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications [source]

The Importance of Board Quality in the Event of a CEO Death

FINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2006
Kenneth A. Borokhovich
G34 Abstract We examine board quality and executive replacement decisions around deaths of senior executives. Stock price reactions to executive deaths are positively related to board independence. Controlling for such factors as the deceased's stockholdings, outside blockholdings, board size, and whether the deceased was a founder, board independence is the most significant factor explaining abnormal returns. Board independence is particularly important when there is no apparent successor and firm performance is poor. The results are consistent with independent boards being reluctant to discipline poorly performing incumbent managers, but nevertheless using the opportunity of an executive death to improve the quality of management. [source]

Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross-Border Merger Context

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2005
Janne Tienari
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross-border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ,doing' gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the company serve to distance vertical gender inequality. The main contribution of the article is an analysis of how national identities are discursively (re)constructed in such distancing. New insights are offered to studying gender in multinationals with a cross-cultural team of researchers. Our study sheds light on how gender intersects with nationality in shaping the multinational organization and the identities of male executives in globalizing business. [source]

Comparing senior executive and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Chinese Delphi study

Philanthropy, social capital or strategic alliance?

Capacity Planning in a Transitional Setting with Simulation-based Modeling: A Case Study

INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002
Christoph Haehling Von Lanzenauer
Significant progress has been made in the development of modeling and analysis frameworks for the purpose of supporting senior executives in their task of strategy formulation and evaluation. Using the case study British Synthetic Fibres Ltd, the important strategic task of capacity planning is addressed in a transitional setting. The paper illustrates the use of influence diagrams, the development of a spreadsheet model in a language facilitating easy communication with senior management, and the strength of risk analysis as effective tools for managing the capacity-planning process. Special emphasis is placed on the benefits and insights to be gained from this approach in evaluating strategic options in the context of the case study. [source]

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2003
James A. Brickley
Effective corporate leadership involves more than developing a good strategic plan and setting high ethical standards. It also means coming up with an organizational design that encourages the company's managers and employees to carry out its business plan and maintain its ethical standards. In this article, the authors use the term organizational architecture to refer to three key elements of a company's design: ,the assignment of decision-making authority,who gets to make what decisions; ,performance evaluation,the key measures of performance for evaluating business units and individual employees; and ,compensation structure,how employees are rewarded for meeting performance goals. In well-designed companies, each of these elements is mutually reinforcing and supportive of the company's overall business strategy. Decision-making authority is assigned to managers and employees who have the knowledge and experience needed to make the best investment and operating decisions. And to ensure that those decision makers have the incentive as well as the knowledge to make the best decisions, the corporate systems used to evaluate and reward their performance are based on measures that are linked as directly as possible to the corporate goal of creating value. Some of the most popular management techniques of the past two decades, such as reengineering, TQM, and the Balanced Scorecard, have often had disappointing results because they address only one or two elements of organizational architecture, leaving the overall structure out of balance. What's more, a flawed organizational design can lead to far worse than missed opportunities to create value. As the authors note, the recent corporate scandals involved not just improper behavior by senior executives, but corporate structures that, far from safeguarding against such behavior, in some ways encouraged it. In the case of Enron, for example, top management's near-total focus on boosting reported earnings (a questionable corporate goal to begin with) combined with decentralized decision making and loose oversight at all levels of the company to produce an enormously risky high-leverage strategy that ended up bringing down the firm. [source]

Power, Innovation and Problem-Solving: The Personnel Managers' Three Steps to Heaven?

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 3 2004
David Guest
ABSTRACT Legge's seminal book on personnel managers (Legge, 1978) identified ambiguities in their role, vicious circles that limited their power and possible strategies to improve their effectiveness. This paper explores how far the advent of human resource management has altered the circumstances in which they find themselves and how far it offers a new basis for power and influence. Analysis of interviews with 48 senior executives indicates that although there have been changes in features of the ambiguities and vicious circles, personnel managers have failed to overcome many of the problems identified by Legge 25 years earlier or to seize the opportunities outlined by Ulrich (1997) to become human resource champions. [source]

Interfirm Alliances in the Small Business: The Role of Social Networks

JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2002
Anat BarNir
In light of the increasing importance of strategic alliances in shaping competition, this study explored whether the social network of small firm executives can be leveraged to facilitate the establishment of interfirm alliances. Analyses are based on a mail survey of 149 small manufacturing firms in the northeast United States. Results indicate that the social networks of senior executives account for 11,22 percent of the variance in the degree to which firms engage in alliances, depending on the type of alliance. Results also show that the number of interfirm alliances is positively related to several networking properties (propensity to network, strength of ties, and network prestige). Findings are discussed in the context of network theory, social embeddedness, and the overall implications for management researchers and practitioners. [source]

A Multidimensional Framework for Understanding Outsourcing Arrangements

JOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007
Nada R. Sanders
SUMMARY The growth of outsourcing has resulted in numerous different outsourcing arrangements, ranging from out-tasking and managed services to business process outsourcing and transformational outsourcing. The growing lexicon of outsourcing terminology has caused confusion for many managers and academicians alike, who tend to view outsourcing as a fixed, discrete event or a simple make-or-buy decision. In reality, outsourcing is an umbrella term that includes a range of sourcing options that are external to the firm. Understanding these options, their characteristic differences, and how they serve to meet differing business objectives is the focus of the current research. Based on in-depth interviews with 19 senior executives experienced in outsourcing, as well as a thorough synthesis of available research, this article provides a framework clarifying the broad spectrum of outsourcing arrangements, and their inherent risks and advantages. Managerial guidance related to outsourcing is also provided. [source]

Incorporating employee resourcing requirements into deployment decision making

PROJECT MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009
Andrew R. J. Dainty
Abstract Employee resourcing is the process of matching human resource capabilities to the strategic and operational needs of the organization. This is exceptionally problematic in project-based organizations due to the competing priorities of the project, the individual employee, and the wider succession needs of the organization. This article presents the findings of research examining the human resource management practices that form the key components of the resourcing process. These included, inter alia, human resource planning, recruitment and selection, team deployment, performance management, and human resource administration. Current practices were examined in seven leading construction firms, all of which faced dynamic resourcing priorities. Within an inductive methodology, semistructured interviews were carried out with senior executives, human resource management (HRM) specialists, senior operational managers, and project-based staff. Based on a synthesis of the promising practices extracted from the case-study organizations, an innovative approach to project resourcing was developed that aims to balance organizational, project, and individual employee requirements. Team deployment resides at the center of resourcing process for the project-based organization as it determines the success of the project, which in turn determines the competitiveness of the organization. Long-term planning and employee involvement enable team deployment to integrate with other elements of HRM effectively and thus help to balance the organizational strategic priorities, project requirements, and individual employee needs and preferences. [source]

An Organizational Echelon Analysis of the Determinants of Red Tape in Public Organizations

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 6 2008
Richard M. Walker
This article adopts an organizational echelon approach to the study of red tape in public organizations and argues that the nature and extent of red tape will vary at different levels of the organizational hierarchy. These propositions are tested with a multiple-informant survey using a lagged model. The empirical results across the three organizational echelons sampled indicate modest variations in the levels of perceived red tape and major variations in its determinants. Results from the more senior managers uphold prior research findings and hypotheses on the determinants of red tape. This is not surprising because earlier studies typically sampled senior executives. Yet the lower down the organizational hierarchy one travels, the more red tape officials perceive and the more multifaceted the findings on determinants become. The authors conclude that prior empirical work is likely to have underestimated the extent of red tape in public organizations, and oversimplified its determinants. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. [source]

Financial Champions and Masters of Innovation: Analyzing the Effects of Balancing Strategic Orientations,

THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2009
Angela Paladino
Theory predicts that market and resource orientations can each lead to innovation and financial success. Despite this, no research has examined whether the pursuit of both resource and market orientations is feasible and, if so, the impact of this combined effect on innovative and financial outcomes. This paper aims to address these gaps. Thus, it is the first to examine the interdependent relationship between market orientation (MO) and resource orientation (RO). Additionally, this study responds to calls for (1) cross-disciplinary research, particularly in the areas of marketing and strategic management, and (2) comparative studies of diverse strategic orientations on performance. In doing so, this paper investigates the difference in innovation performance and financial performance between firms adopting a high or low degree of market orientation or a high or low degree of resource orientation. This allows us to observe independent and interdependent effects of these orientations on the firm's performance. Data were collected from 250 senior executives in Australia. Confirmatory factor analysis and related techniques were applied to assess the robustness of the measures used. A two-way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the relationships. Results show the emergence of four organizational types: unfocused imitators or followers; market-driven innovators; masters of innovation; and financial champions. From these, financial champions emerge as having the greatest impact on the financial performance of the firm, while masters of innovation are best for maximizing innovation outcomes. In fact, organizations with a high RO in the matrix (masters of innovation and financial champions) achieved a higher impact on innovation relative to the quadrants reflecting a lower MO. Results also demonstrate that pursuing a low degree of resource and market orientations leads to inferior financial performance. Therefore, a balance of resource and market orientations is important. A potential extension of this research is to assess these relationships on an industry-by-industry basis. This would contribute to our knowledge by allowing us to determine if and how these results differ between industries. Managerial and theoretical implications are also discussed. [source]