Taking it from the Top: How CEOs Influence (and Fail to Influence) their Boards
- 1 October 2004
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Organization Studies
- Vol. 25 (8) , 1275-1311
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840604046318
Abstract
This article examines how chief executive officers (CEOs) influence their boards in symphony orchestra governance. Traditional governance research has studied the impact of structural factors on the CEO-board relationship, but less attention has been paid to the ways in which influence in these relationships is enacted, and to the role of the CEO in particular. Drawing on two intensive, longitudinal case studies, this article investigates the behavioural dynamics of the CEO-board relationship, identifying four key processes that underpin successful CEO influence: exploiting key relationships, managing impressions, managing information, and protecting formal authority. It concludes with an examination of the interrelated and embedded nature of these processes, and considers the implications for theory and research in organizational governance.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Understanding Failure in Organizational Strategizing*Journal of Management Studies, 2003
- The Impact of the Board on Strategy: An Empirical ExaminationJournal of Management Studies, 2001
- Doing ‘Boards‐in‐Action’ Research — an ethnographic approach for the capture and analysis of directors’ and senior managers’ interactive routinesCorporate Governance: An International Review, 2000
- Sources and Uses of Power in the BoardroomEuropean Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 1998
- Power and Influence in and Around the BoardroomHuman Relations, 1995
- Board members' influence on the government‐nonprofit relationshipNonprofit Management and Leadership, 1994
- Power in and around nonprofit boards: A neglected dimension of governanceNonprofit Management and Leadership, 1992
- Upward-Influence Styles: Relationship with Performance Evaluations, Salary, and StressAdministrative Science Quarterly, 1988
- Greenmail: A Study of Board Performance in Corporate GovernanceAdministrative Science Quarterly, 1987