Search results
1 – 10 of 888Joel H. Amernic and Russell J. Craig
The paper highlights the strategic importance of being alert to the power of the language and words used by CEOs in their various communications – their CEO‐speak.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper highlights the strategic importance of being alert to the power of the language and words used by CEOs in their various communications – their CEO‐speak.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a close reading analysis of several contemporary examples of one of the most significant genres of CEO‐speak – the CEO's annual letter to stockholders.
Findings
Four perspectives important for understanding corporate strategy are highlighted: the importance of CEO‐speak as a linguistic marker of CEO narcissism; the revealing nature of metaphors chosen by CEOs; the potential rhetorical potency that arises from the way CEO‐speak is framed; and the significance of cultural keywords.
Research limitations/implications
Case examples, such as the close readings in this article, possess the strength of specific instance detail and interpretation, and the ostensible weakness arising from interpretation of small samples. But such research may provide for a reframing of conceptual perspectives and practical approaches.
Practical implications
The case examples and advice provided will help business executives and corporate stakeholders to monitor the quality of CEO‐speak, engage CEO‐speak more effectively for strategic purposes, and improve CEO text and leadership‐through‐language.
Originality/value
Readers are reminded of the power of CEO text, the benefits of subjecting it to greater scrutiny, and are provided with some practical, operational advice.
Details
Keywords
Firms and individuals budget or account for dollars, not standardized dollars, squared dollars, squared deviations from mean dollars, or percentage of squared deviations from mean…
Abstract
Firms and individuals budget or account for dollars, not standardized dollars, squared dollars, squared deviations from mean dollars, or percentage of squared deviations from mean dollars – my checking account reports my balance in dollars. In contrast, we have all seen a model dismissed because it “only explained 9% of the variance.” However, the Brogden–Cronbach–Gleser (BCG) model clearly shows that rxy (or 
) is linearly related to a model's dollar utility to the firm, not or . In other words, when rxy (or ) doubles for a strategic management model designed to predict profit (Y$), then the predicted dollar value added to the firm doubles (e.g., when rxy=0.30 and , the addition of X2 to the model has increased expected dollar value added to the firm by a factor of 2). Hence, a model that explains only 9% of the variance in Y$ in fact explains 30% of the dollar utility available to be explained in Y$, even though tests of the null hypothesis H0: rxy=0 and will yield mathematically identical outcomes to tests of and . Not surprisingly, I rarely see the BCG model cited in the scholarly management literature, and never see it cited by strategic management scholars. So, I will first demonstrate how the BCG model was originally developed to estimate the value of personnel selection systems, though it also characterizes how the dollar impact of any organizational intervention can be estimated, be it strategic, entrepreneurial, HR-related, etc. I will then make some minor adjustments to show how the model can be applied to more macro, strategic research arenas as well as some of the more interesting implications that are seldom fully appreciated in the current management literature. I will conclude this section with an example of how the BCG model might be applied to a recent strategic management study published in a recent issue of the Academy of Management Journal.
This paper aims to summarize advice from two professors of accounting on the language CEOs should and should not use in their official communications.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to summarize advice from two professors of accounting on the language CEOs should and should not use in their official communications.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments.
Findings
The paper suggests that readers ought to think of the last time they either gave, advised or heard a CEO's speech. They ought to reflect on the last letter they sent or received with a CEO's signature at the bottom and to ask if they were the writer, how did they went about choosing their words and if they were on the receiving end, how did they respond? It suggests that what was said and what was actually communicated might not be the very same thing.
Practical implications
The paper offers case studies which may help CEOs and their teams put together savvier communications documents.
Originality/value
Readers are made to focus on the potentially large impact of the use or misuse of certain words, encouraging them to be more aware of the minor details of their communications.
Details
Keywords
Russell J. Craig, Frank L. Clarke and Joel H. Amernic
This paper was stimulated by the chilling vision of the corporate university described by Moore and touted by numerous others. It exposes the ways in which Newman’s The Idea of a…
Abstract
This paper was stimulated by the chilling vision of the corporate university described by Moore and touted by numerous others. It exposes the ways in which Newman’s The Idea of a University will be abrogated and transformed by corporate universities. Fundamental issues are raised about the nature and purpose of universities and about the roles of its professors and schools of business, especially in a world characterized by “the triumph of the market”. An urgent plea is proferred for broader debate about the place of Corporate Universities in business higher education.
Details
Keywords
Conventional theories of market entry assume choice availability. This investment assumption is subject to challenges in the power generation market of an emerging economy where…
Abstract
Conventional theories of market entry assume choice availability. This investment assumption is subject to challenges in the power generation market of an emerging economy where the host government controls most key resources and market entry choices. With such constraints, entrants become heavily dependent on their host country partners. This study investigates how the resource dependency frameworks explain better in respect of some US power generation firms that manage to operate electricity facilities in China whereas some have to abort. Using cross‐case analysis, patterns emerged illustrate how two groups of entrants manage key resources differently.
Details