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In a review of the literature, supported by six case studies, executive development for senior managers in public and private organisations is explored in depth. The study looks at the roles and responsibilities of the chairman, CEO, executive and non‐executive directors, the required capabilities to achieve successful performance, and the related executive development activity implemented to support these. Methods of delivery, development needs analysis and evaluation are explored in case organisations to ascertain current practice. A detailed review of the leadership and governance literatures is included to highlight the breadth of knowledge required at director level. Key findings of the study include the importance of focusing executive development on capability enhancement, to ensure that it is supporting organisational priorities, and on its thorough customisation to the corporate context. Deficiencies in current corporate practice are also identified.

This study aims to draw upon research from strategic human resource management (HRM) and strategic management to examine how HRM demands influence the likelihood that chief executive officers (CEOs) will staff top management with a human resource (HR) executive.

The theory and hypotheses developed in this study are tested on a sample of US initial public offering firms from the calendar year 2007, using logistic regression.

The results of hypothesis tests suggest that HR executive presence in top management is positively related to the HRM demands faced by a CEO stemming from product/service innovation strategies, the number of HRs employed by the firm and CEO’s financial orientation.

The results of this study may not generalize to other settings. This study does not simultaneously consider the role of other structural forms which may increase or reduce the degree of HRM demands faced by the CEO. This study extends prior research on executive job demands by expanding the understanding of factors which give rise to HRM sources of executive job demands. Study results suggest that CEOs with financial orientations are more likely to staff their top management teams with an HR executive, which suggests that in the face of executive job demands stemming from a particular functional area, CEOs delegate responsibility for that function to another member of top management. This finding suggests that CEOs can, and in fact do, recognize the limitations engendered by their experiences and that when confronted with a specific type of executive job demand that does not align with their expertise, they take steps to address their individual limitations by appointing others that are more capable of addressing the particular source of executive job demand.

Study results suggest that product/service innovation strategies, CEO’s financial background and the number of HRs employed by the firm increase the likelihood of HR functional representation in top management.

The theory and results of this study extend the focus of extant research on factors giving rise to HRM’s functional representation in top management. Although prior research has emphasized the role of ownership characteristics and risk preferences in the adoption of this structural form, this study examines the role of CEO HRM demands. This approach allows for the integration of the upper echelons theory with the strategic HRM literature and provides an empirical examination of CEO job demands arising from the HRM function.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and expectations of chief executive officers (CEOs) and executive board members concerning: the relevance of public opinion and contribution of communication performance to organizational success, the communicative role of top executives and their interaction with professional communicators, the objectives and values of corporate communications, and the importance of various disciplines and instruments.

A quantitative survey was conducted among top executives of listed and private companies operating in the largest European country, Germany (n=602).

The study identifies a traditional mindset: top executives focus on primary stakeholders (customers, employees) instead of secondary stakeholders (politicians, activists), they value mass media higher than social media, and they rate speaking more important than listening. Moreover, communication professionals are not always the first choice when CEOs and board members reflect on the topics at hand. Advanced visions of strategic communication developed in academia and practice have not yet arrived in many boardrooms.

The sample is not representative for all CEOs in corporations and it is limited to one country.

While the performance of corporate communications depends heavily on the perceptions, beliefs, and expectations that top executives hold towards communication and its contribution to organizational goal, little is known about this. Most knowledge is based on qualitative interviews and small-scale samples. This study provides an overview of previous insights and takes a broader empirical approach.

The authors seek to analyze the impact of weak corporate governance by top executives of a firm on the firm's earnings reports. This research is meant to further emphasize the impact of co-opted executives on a firm, primarily through their impact on earnings management.

Using financial data from 11,473 firm-year observations, the authors utilize ordinary least squares (OLS), 2-stage IV regressions, propensity score matching (PSM) and entropy balancing to analyze the impact of a co-opted top management team on discretionary accruals and restatements.

The authors find empirical evidence that firms with weak corporate governance from top executives are more likely to manipulate reported earnings and have lower financial reporting quality. The authors also find that the effect of co-opted executives on earnings management is weaker when a chief executive officer's (CEO’s) incentives are not aligned with those of top executives, suggesting that executives prevent earnings management due to reputational concerns. Co-opted chief financial officers (CFOs) increase the magnitude of earnings management in a firm but are not solely responsible for the authors' results.

The authors' results suggest that the top executive team provides an important first defense in the prevention of earnings management and corporate wrongdoing. Co-option of the top executive team may be an important consideration when doing research into corporate governance.

This paper determines and analyses criteria for top executives to use in appraisal systems to promote ambidextrous leadership, enhancing the organization's ability to identify persons who can lead ambidextrously or determining the development potential of existing top executives.

Using a theoretical-conceptual, triangulated approach, the investigation in this paper examines the requirements for top executives to lead ambidextrously. In a subsequent review and frequency analysis, the specific attributes/behaviours a top executive should possess are examined. Analysis of the application of these appraisal criteria is theoretical.

The criteria listed in this paper (e.g. ambition, courage, vision) can be used to foster ambidextrous leadership when hiring or evaluating performance. These and/or the criteria already existing in an organization should be classified in one of the two categories presented (1. one-dimensional criteria: differentiation between exploration/exploitation is not necessary; 2. multidimensional criteria: differentiation between exploration and exploitation, opening and closing leadership, and first- and second-order changes is necessary) to differentiate the criteria and thereby illuminate their application in the areas of exploration and exploitation. Thus, a corresponding assessment of applicants and/or job holders for ambidextrous leadership is possible.

This theoretical analysis contributes to the literature on top executives' recruitment, performance management, career and succession planning, focusing on ambidextrous leadership and organizational development by elucidating a differentiated concept for appraisal criteria so that the right person can be appointed to the top executive position or assigned to the necessary personnel development programme. Thus identified, a top executive may be positioned to maintain, improve or install ambidextrous leadership and practice in an organization.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model explaining the roles of right-hand person and the factors contributing to the successful relationship between the top executive and the right-hand person.

In-depth qualitative case studies are conducted. Longitudinal observations, interviews with six right-hand persons and the top executives in three organizations are conducted to test the propositions of the model.

Results indicate that different types of congruence between the top executive and the right-hand person are required when the right-hand person is performing the roles of an implementer and joint decision maker.

This study extends the leadership literature by investigating the phenomenon of right-hand person of the top executive, which has seldom been studied systematically or scientifically. It provides insights and serves as a stepping stone for future research in this area. One key limitation is that it is a qualitative study with limited samples under investigation.

Practical implications concerning how to build up a successful relationship between the top executive and the right-hand person can be drawn from the proposed model. Insight concerning how to collaborate between the top executive and the right-hand person can be drawn from the in-depth case analyses.

The phenomenon of right-hand person is not limited to business organizations. The collaboration between the key decision maker and his chief assistant should be applicable to other contexts such as non-government organizations.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the right-hand person phenomenon in the literature. As the right-hand person of the top executive can have important influence on organizational performance, the study may serve as the stepping stone for further understanding of this important phenomenon.

Top executive hubris is associated with positive/negative outcome. Little is known about the antecedent of hubris in top management team (TMT) and how they can be weakened to capitalize on TMT size and market complexity. This paper aims to address these issues.

This study draws on the social information processing theory. Subsequently, it proposes and tests an inverted U-shaped relationship between task-related faultlines and top executive hubris. Top management team size and complexity can weaken the relationship between them. Panel data were collected longitudinally from 2011 to 2016 on China's listed firm on growth enterprises board.

Hierarchical regression analyses indicate that medium task-related faultlines experience stronger than weak and strong faultlines. TMT size and market complexity can weaken the inverted U-shaped relationship between them.

This study provides pioneering evidence for an inverted U-shaped relationship between task-related faultlines and top executive hubris. These findings inform practice by suggesting a tipping point of team faultlines.

This article provides a historical literature review and exploratory descriptive case study of one U.S. Federal agencyʼs efforts to design an appropriate government-wide leadership development curriculum for incumbent top or senior civil servants. The U.S. Federal Executive Institute was founded in 1968, it spans the 20th and 21st centuries, it illustrates changes in the compact that exists between government and its top civil servants over time, and it illustrates challenges this agency confronts addressing the task of interagency leadership development. The main findings are three continuities and three discontinuities between curriculum development then and now. Conclusions outline issues for future interdisciplinary research to inform the intellectual roots for 21st century curricula aligned to emerging roles and the challenges top career executives actually confront.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between human resource (HR) executive representation in top management and the growth of newly public firms. It draws upon research on strategic leadership, strategic HR management and Penrose’s theory of firm growth to consider the role of HRs executives in addressing demands placed upon top managers in the pursuit of firm growth. This study attempts to extend the focus of research on the influence of HR executives on organizational outcomes

In order to test study hypotheses, this study analyses data from a sample of US newly public firms that underwent initial public offerings (IPO) during the 2007 calendar year. Study data were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression in order to test study hypotheses.

This study provides general support for study hypotheses. First, HR executive presence in top management was found to be positively related to post-IPO firm growth. Second, upper echelon size and the number of firm employees were found to weaken the positive effect of HR executive presence in top management on post-IPO firm growth.

As a consequence of study design, the results found in this study may be limited with respect to their external validity. Therefore, researchers and practitioners are encouraged to use caution before generalizing study findings to other contexts.

This study provides implications for top management team staffing and the pursuit of firm growth. Newly public firms appear to benefit in terms of firm growth by including HR executives in top management. The benefits of doing so appear to be reduced for newly public firms as the size of their upper echelons and number of employees increase.

This study extends research on the firm level consequences of HR executive presence in top management as well as research on factors which influence firm growth.

This study aims to explain the cognitive bias of overconfidence and portray the different ways in which overconfident top managers may affect firm outcomes. This paper outlines their opportunities and risks and how these managers are surrounded by contextual factors.

This study draws on a systematic overview of the current literature on senior executives' overconfidence and empirical studies investigating its impact on strategic outcomes.

This study identifies the opportunities and risks of overconfident top managers in firms and considers the contextual factors that influence firm outcomes. The results provide three important managerial implications for interactions with overly confident top managers.

These findings help us understand top managers' overconfidence. Organizations receive guidance on how to constrain inappropriately confident top managers who are detrimental to their businesses.

This study contributes to a better understanding of overconfidence among top managers, illustrates associated opportunities and risks and provides recommendations for controlling and dealing with top managers characterized by this cognitive bias.