Four decades of CEO–TMT interface research: A review inspired by role theory

The CEO-TMT interface, defined as the linkage and interaction between the CEO and other top managers, has received increasing attention from scholars in different disciplines. This stream of research aims to unveil how CEOs and other executives interact with one another, influence each other, and become involved in collective activities that shape the fate of organizations. Yet, despite the burgeoning interest in this area, extant CEO-TMT research is characterized by various and disconnected assumptions about the interfacing roles through which CEOs and TMTs exercise strategic leadership. Drawing on role theory, we review extant CEO-TMT interface research in different disciplines, and systematically organize the various CEO-TMT role assumptions into three role-theory specifications: functionalism, social-interactionism, and structuralism. In taking stock of the three role specifications, we provide a critique of the strengths and boundaries of each, and chart directions toward an integrated ‘multi-role’ understanding of the CEO-TMT interface in strategic leadership.     

Time for a revival? Public policy implementation: a review of the literature and an agenda for future research

This paper argues that there is not a vigorous contemporary literature in the UK which addresses implementation studies as part of the public policy process, whereas this is not the case in the USA. A review of the literature is presented, and a critique of the more traditional thematic groupings used to review the literature is given. A revised thematic review of the literature is presented based on the four themes of: (1) the role of knowledge and learning in policy implementation; (2) the processes of policy implementation; (3) the role of actors and agents in implementation; and (4) the role of bureaucratic discretion. The paper argues for a revival of research into public policy implementation and suggests a research agenda for the future which can use the aforementioned themes from the literature.     

When are organizations punished for organizational misconduct? A review and research agenda

Scholars have highlighted the use of punishment as a tool to defend laws and norms, deter deviance, and restore justice in the aftermath of organizational misconduct. However, current theory and research primarily draw on a micro-oriented lens to understand how punishment occurs in response to deviant actors within organizations, neglecting macro-oriented questions of whether and how organizations are punished for their misconduct. We review sociological and macro-organizational work that suggests punitive severity can vary with three key attributes of the organization: status, reputation, and embedded ties. We then develop a mezzo-lens framework motivated at the intersection of micro- and macro-perspectives on organizational misconduct to shed light on opportunities for theoretical expansion by crossing levels of analysis.     

Use and misuse of levels of analysis in leadership research: An illustrative review of leader–member exchange

Prior reviews have focused on if leadership literature pays homage to levels of analysis; our purpose is to take stock of how well and in what ways levels issues are implemented in theory and hypotheses formulation, construct conceptualization, measurement, and data analysis. To illustrate these notions, we provide an in-depth review of 163 multi-level empirical leader–member exchange (LMX) and vertical dyad linkage (VDL) studies published between 1972 and 2012. Our findings indicate that the volume of multi-level studies in LMX has drastically increased recently and the majority of these studies cast theory and hypotheses at the same level. With regard to alignment of levels of theory/hypotheses with measurement and with data analyses, however, roughly one out of two published studies suffers from misalignment of levels. Most of this misalignment occurs in studies where the dyad level of analysis, a key component of LMX, is an explicit or implicit focus. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the LMX literature, and present recommendations to guide multi-level leadership research.     

The financial burden of psychosocial workplace aggression: A systematic review of cost-of-illness studies

Understanding the economic impact of psychological and social forms of workplace aggression to society could yield important insights into the magnitude of this occupational phenomenon. The objective of this systematic review was to collate, summarise, review and critique, and synthesise the cost of psychosocial workplace aggression at the individual- and societal-level. A peer-reviewed research protocol detailing the search strategy, study selection procedures and data extraction process was developed a priori. Both the academic and grey literatures were examined. To allow for basic comparison, all costs were converted and adjusted to reflect 2014 US dollars. Twelve studies, from 5 national contexts, met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed: Australia (n?=?2), Italy (n?=?1), Spain (n?=?1), the United Kingdom (n?=?3) and the United States (n?=?5). The annual cost of psychosocial workplace aggression varied substantially, ranging between $114.64 million and $35.9 billion. Heterogeneity across studies was found, with noted variations in stated study aims, utilised prevalence statistics and included costs. The review concludes that existing evidence attests to the substantial cost of psychosocial workplace aggression to both the individual and society, albeit such derived estimates are likely gross under-estimates. The findings highlight the importance of interpreting such figures within their conceptual and methodological contexts.     

How does crisis management in China differ from the West?: A review of the literature and directions for future research

Scholars often use Western-based frameworks to examine issues in crisis management in Eastern cultures such as China. However, relying on these frameworks may not be useful since in many cases they do not consider contextual factors such as culture. In this review of the literature on crisis management in China we examine two key issues. First, we examine the factors that trigger a crisis in China. Second, we identify distinct crisis management strategies deployed in China. Finally, this paper discusses the managerial implications and directions for future research.     

The bandpass problem: combinatorial optimization and library of problems

A combinatorial optimization problem, called the Bandpass Problem, is introduced. Given a rectangular matrix A of binary elements {0,1} and a positive integer B called the Bandpass Number, a set of B consecutive non-zero elements in any column is called a Bandpass. No two bandpasses in the same column can have common rows. The Bandpass problem consists of finding an optimal permutation of rows of the matrix, which produces the maximum total number of bandpasses having the same given bandpass number in all columns. This combinatorial problem arises in considering the optimal packing of information flows on different wavelengths into groups to obtain the highest available cost reduction in design and operating the optical communication networks using wavelength division multiplexing technology. Integer programming models of two versions of the bandpass problems are developed. For a matrix A with three or more columns the Bandpass problem is proved to be NP-hard. For matrices with two or one column a polynomial algorithm solving the problem to optimality is presented. For the general case fast performing heuristic polynomial algorithms are presented, which provide near optimal solutions, acceptable for applications. High quality of the generated heuristic solutions has been confirmed in the extensive computational experiments. As an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with important applications the Bandpass problem offers a challenge for researchers to develop efficient computational solution methods. To encourage the further research a Library of Bandpass Problems has been developed. The Library is open to public and consists of 90 problems of different sizes (numbers of rows, columns and density of non-zero elements of matrix A and bandpass number B), half of them with known optimal solutions and the second half, without.     

How can research contribute to the implementation of sustainable development goals? An interpretive review of SDG literature in management

Organizations often face challenges in incorporating the sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their strategic agendas. Despite the availability of guidelines from leading practitioners, such guidance often lacks the scientific insights provided by academia. In this study, we examine the integration of scholarly management literature into practical guidelines for achieving the SDGs. To do so, we first examined nine practitioner guidelines offered by well-reputed consulting firms, multilateral organizations and non-profits, from which we identified four underlying general processes: prioritizing SDGs to the most relevant strategic goals of firms, contextualizing the SDGs to firms’ geographical and industrial contexts, collaborating with other organizations and stakeholders to make more impactful progress and innovating via business process remodelling. Using these four processes as an overarching framework, we then conducted an interpretive literature review to mine highly cited sustainable development-related papers in the management field covering an 11-year period (2010–2020). From these studies, we derived novel connections to all four stages to offer a more robust and scientifically informed process-based framework for SDG adoption. We discuss multiple scholarly implications, including the importance of enhancing knowledge about the various phases of the SDG adoption model, developing research on understudied SDGs, and expanding theoretical and methodological approaches to SDG research. Additionally, we provide a more grounded SDG adoption model with significant practical implications.     

Opportunism in buyer–supplier exchange: a critical examination of the concept and its implications for theory and practice

Abstract

Claims that opportunism is widespread in the process of buyer–supplier exchange are commonplace, but direct supporting evidence for such claims is largely absent from the relevant literature. This article offers a critique of the treatment of opportunism in supply chains by re-establishing the importance of guile in the concept and investigates existing published, empirical measures of buyer and supplier opportunistic behaviour. This article offers evidence that, despite the frequency with which the concept is discussed in the literature and applied in research and the emphasis given to the risks it generates for management, opportunism with guile between buyers and suppliers appears to be rare in practice. This article is the first critical assessment of the concept’s treatment in the Operations Management field, and it argues that practitioners are currently being poorly advised with respect to the phenomenon, as well as drawing conclusions for both practitioners and researchers that differ radically from the prevailing consensus on the subject.     

‘Let's share!’ The mediating role of employees' self-determination in the relationship between transformational and shared leadership and perceived knowledge sharing among peers

Building on social-exchange and self-determination theory, this study aimed to contribute to the scholarly literature on leadership and knowledge sharing by simultaneously testing how shared and transformational leadership and their interrelatedness may foster employees' perceptions of knowledge sharing behaviour among peers. Additionally, we investigated the mediating role of employees' basic psychological needs satisfaction (in terms of autonomy, competence and relatedness, respectively) as an additional explanatory mechanism to reveal how shared and transformational leadership may foster individuals' perceptions of knowledge sharing behaviour among peers. We employed PLS structural equation modelling to analyse survey data obtained from professionals in an R&D unit of a knowledge-intensive firm. We found shared leadership to be the most important factor enhancing employees' perceptions of knowledge sharing among peers, both directly and indirectly through employees' satisfaction of the need for autonomy. Transformational leadership was found to foster employees' knowledge sharing ultimately, through shared leadership and the need for autonomy satisfaction. We concluded that shared forms of leadership supplemented with transformational leadership on the part of formal leaders are important in contemporary work environments as they can foster employees' perceptions of knowledge sharing among peers and contribute towards employees' self-determination, which ultimately enhances perceptions of knowledge sharing among peers.     

Empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity – The mediating role of committed leadership for continuous improvement

Organisations nowadays try to be ambidextrous, that is, to balance exploitation and exploration, at the level of the organisational unit, or even at the individual level. Recent studies found that important drivers for contextual ambidexterity are a high level of empowerment and an orientation towards continuous improvement (CI) and innovation. It is, therefore, to be expected that empowering leadership and leader commitment to CI are associated with contextual ambidexterity. However, literature about the relationships between empowering leadership, committed leadership for CI and contextual ambidexterity is scant. Based on two separate survey studies, we validated both the relationship between empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity, and the mediating effect of committed leadership for CI in the organisational unit level and the individual level. The managerial implications of this research is that organisations that want to facilitate contextual ambidexterity should not only empower employees so that they can decide more independently on how to organise their time and make choices when they conduct exploratory activities and when they perform exploitative activities. Management must also act as committed ambassadors for CI, as CI functions as an integration mechanism to create both alignment and adaptability, and hence contextual ambidexterity.     

Special issue on “The role of intellectual capital and integrated reporting in management and governance: a performative perspective”

Journal of Management and Governance -     

In learning mode? The role of mindsets in derailing and enabling experiential leadership development

In comparison to the vast literature on leadership theories, concepts, and behaviors, relatively less is known about why leaders often learn little from their leadership experiences, as well as how to support them in doing so. We propose that leaders learn more from their challenging leadership experiences when they are in learning mode, defined as intentionally framing and pursuing each element of the experiential learning process with more of a growth than a fixed mindset. We describe how the extent to which leaders are in learning mode stems from salient mindset cues and guides whether they work through the experiential learning process with a predominantly self-improvement or self-enhancement motive. We theorize about several other likely mediators and moderators of when being in learning mode will manifest in experiential leadership development. Practical implications at the micro, meso, and macro levels, as well as within management education are outlined.     

Toward a comprehensive perspective on hubristic leadership – An aggregation of cross-disciplinary evidence and roadmap for future research

A growing body of literature reveals that the emergence of hubris is by no means a rare phenomenon in leadership contexts. Despite having been repeatedly proven that hubris has both beneficial and detrimental manifestations in leadership behaviors, its positioning as a harmful cognitive bias continues to echo across disciplines. To unify the fragmented hubris tradition, this paper synthesizes existing literature and identifies three perspectives on hubristic leadership: an innovation perspective, an internal coordination and commercialization perspective, and a risk management perspective. The aggregation of these perspectives into a unifying theoretical framework indicates that the type of leadership behavior together with the predictability of its outcomes account for the ambivalent manifestations of hubris across leadership behaviors. Future research opportunities are discussed on this basis.     

The role of the board in shaping foundations’ strategy: an empirical study

This paper investigates the relationships of the choice of philanthropic strategy with board capital (diversity and networks), board activities (board processes, internal board committees, and board effectiveness), and CEO leadership. Using a sample of 110 Italian foundations, the research shows that board processes have the strongest positive association with an evolved strategic approach to philanthropic institutional grant-giving, while board diversity and strong CEO leadership are associated with the strategic approach only under certain conditions. In particular, good governance processes (e.g., training the board, self-evaluation of trustees, setting the stage for effective board and committee meetings, implementing control software, and steering meetings to improve the board’s analysis) are positively associated with evolved strategic approaches to philanthropy (e.g., signaling other funders for the best grantees, improving the performance of grant recipients, and advancing selected social fields’ state of knowledge and practice).     

Determinants of group-level overconfidence in teams: A quasi-experimental investigation of diversity and tenure

Teams of business leaders make most strategic decisions in organizations. However, although a large body of research has analyzed cognitive biases of individual leaders, little is known about how those biases affect teams on the group level. Therefore, on the basis of research into group decision making and group diversity, we analyze demographic diversity and group tenure as two important determinants of overconfidence in groups. We report findings from a quasi-experimental field study involving 46 management teams, which suggest that diversity and tenure have separate, direct effects on group overconfidence. More specifically, we show that demographic diversity reduces group overconfidence, while group tenure increases it. These findings add a dynamic dimension to the conceptualization of group overconfidence in teams.     

Managing value appropriation in buyer–supplier relationships: The role of commercial decision resources

The resource-based view explains firms’ value appropriation in buyer–supplier relationships by pointing to sustained differences in economic efficiency across firms. Firms with more efficient resources create more value than competitors, which in turn provides a “protective cushion” against competition. However, just as firms may differ in the economic efficiency of their resources and in the value they create, they may also differ in their information processing and how successful they are at value appropriation. Building on the literature on decision-making under uncertainty in psychology, I argue that firms may increase their value appropriation in exchange relationships by investing in commercial decision resources that allow for more effective information processing in commercial decisions. Examples of commercial decision resources include IT-based systems for product costing and tracking customers/competitors, the design of commercial organization, control systems, and commercial experience and skill.     

Leveraging middle managers’ brokerage for corporate entrepreneurship: The role of multilevel social capital configurations

Building on recent efforts to bring a socio-political perspective to social capital research, we develop and test a multilevel framework that explains why middle managers who occupy brokerage positions differ in their ability and willingness to engage in entrepreneurial behavior. More specifically, we provide a contextualized understanding of the links among middle managers' brokerage, their political-support ties, and their personal initiative. Results derived from data on 383 middle managers and 72 top managers in 34 business units indicate that political-support ties with top managers strengthen the relationship between middle managers’ brokerage and personal initiative. However, this positive effect depends on the social capital resources available in the focal business unit. It is attenuated in business units with a supportive and trusting social context and amplified in business units with high levels of internal connectedness. By uncovering these incompatibilities and complementarities, our study demonstrates the value of accounting for different social capital configurations and the interplay of their inherent social capital resources when examining the effects of brokerage on corporate entrepreneurship.     

Citizens’ Initiatives for Crisis Management and the Use of Social Media: An Analysis of COVID-19 Crisis in Bangladesh

Public Organization Review - This study analyses different social media-based citizens’ initiatives taken during the COVID-19 crisis in Bangladesh. By applying netnography on various Facebook...