Journal of Management · 1988 · 347 citations · 29 references
ManagementLeadershipOrganizational BehaviorExecutive LeadershipLeadership TheoryOrganizational LeadershipExecutive SuccessionLeadership EffectivenessExecutive HierarchyOrganizational Performance Assessment
Top‑level leadership’s impact on organizational performance is debated, and clarifying it requires proper interpretation of executive succession studies that use economic performance metrics. The study proposes developing a theory of executive leadership to better understand how upper‑level leaders influence organizational performance. The authors outline methodological pitfalls, recommended approaches, and sources for relevant theory. Addressing methodological concerns shows executive leadership accounts for up to 45% of organizational performance, and the authors provide guidelines for building the proposed theory.
It is argued that the question over whether top-level leadership significantly affects organizationalperformance can be clarified by properly interpreting the results of executive succession studies that have used economic aspects of organizational performance as criteria. When several methodological concerns are addressed, it is evident that executive leadership can explain as much as 45% of an organization's performance. In order to more fully understand how upperlevel leaders affect organizational performance, we propose that a theory of executive leadership be developed. Guidelines are providedfor developing such a theory. Specifically, problems to avoid, methodologies to consider, and places to look for relevant theory are discussed.
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