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Exploring the influence of chief executive officer professional development and work context on organisation performance: A multi-theoretic perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2015

Christian A Taniman
Affiliation:
RMIT University, Graduate School of Business and Law, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Timothy F O’Shannassy*
Affiliation:
RMIT University, Graduate School of Business and Law, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Corresponding author: tim.oshannassy@rmit.edu.au

Abstract

Understanding the value the right chief executive officer selection and tenure choices can bring to an organisation is under researched in legal jurisdictions such as Australia where there is strong separation of the role of the chief executive officer and chairperson. The chief executive officer is the key organisation strategist and plays an important role in formulating and implementing strategy as well as keeping the board of directors informed of the work of the executive team. This paper reviews and synthesises the corporate governance literature to develop the argument that a chief executive officer’s professional development background and work context will impact his or her ability to favourably influence organisation performance. A series of research propositions of interest to a range of stakeholders inside and outside the organisation are developed drawing on a number of corporate governance theories (e.g., agency theory, stewardship theory). This conceptual paper develops a substantial future empirical research agenda.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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