TOP EXECUTIVE COMMITMENT TO THE STATUS-QUO - SOME TESTS OF ITS DETERMINANTS

被引:661
作者
HAMBRICK, DC
GELETKANYCZ, MA
FREDRICKSON, JW
机构
[1] PENN STATE UNIV, SMEAL COLL BUSINESS ADM, UNIV PK, PA 16802 USA
[2] UNIV TEXAS, GRAD SCH BUSINESS, AUSTIN, TX 78712 USA
关键词
EXECUTIVE COGNITION; STRATEGIC CHANGE; ORGANIZATIONAL INERTIA;
D O I
10.1002/smj.4250140602
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
Some top executives are more committed to the status quo-particularly to their organization's current strategy and leadership profile-than are others. Most empirical research on upper echelons treats psychological phenomena as a 'black box'-the unobserved intervening mechanisms-that causes associations between more observable executive characteristics and organizational outcomes. In contrast, this paper attempts to directly examine the determinants of an important element of an executive's psychological orientation-commitment to the status quo (CSQ). We focus on a select set of variables which have been posited in prior research as determinants of executive CSQ, but which have not been directly tested for such a relationship. Based on a large-scale survey methodology, results suggest that an executive's tenure in an industry is a pronounced determinant of CSQ, and has significantly more impact than organizational tenure. As expected, the firm's current performance was found to be positively related to CSQ; this relationship was stronger in high-discretion than in low-discretion industries. Finally, the project reaffirms a well known human tendency: incumbent CEOs tend to believe that their eventual successors should be just like them.
引用
收藏
页码:401 / 418
页数:18
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