Mariano LM Heyden, Heidi M Wechtler, Sebastiaan van Doorn
{"title":"Wrinkle of change? The reproduction of executive age profiles across CEO succession episodes","authors":"Mariano LM Heyden, Heidi M Wechtler, Sebastiaan van Doorn","doi":"10.1177/00187267251327955","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"We examine the reproduction of executive age profiles across chief executive officer (CEO) succession episodes. Counter to the trend of the general workforce becoming more age-diverse, executives appear to have become more age homogenous and increasingly older at appointment. This is despite increasing frequency of CEO succession episodes, which represent opportunities for demographic change at the top. Combining insights from upper echelons theory, homosocial reproduction theory, and executive succession research, we examine age homophily as an underexamined response to appease some of the disruptiveness surrounding CEO succession episodes. Exploiting CEO succession as a theoretical context for change and an empirical identification strategy, we construct a sample of 391 successions in 297 Standard and Poor’s 500 index companies from 2000 to 2020 and apply a hierarchical linear modeling specification to test hypotheses. We find general support for the notion that age profiles of departing CEOs and incumbent top management teams (TMTs) tend to be reproduced across succession episodes. However, some intriguing patterns emerge when accounting for the origin of the incoming CEO. Notably, some of these general tendencies may be reinforced under outsider CEO successors—counter to the usual expectation for upheaval prompted by outside CEO appointments. We discuss implications for theory and practice.","PeriodicalId":48433,"journal":{"name":"Human Relations","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Relations","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267251327955","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We examine the reproduction of executive age profiles across chief executive officer (CEO) succession episodes. Counter to the trend of the general workforce becoming more age-diverse, executives appear to have become more age homogenous and increasingly older at appointment. This is despite increasing frequency of CEO succession episodes, which represent opportunities for demographic change at the top. Combining insights from upper echelons theory, homosocial reproduction theory, and executive succession research, we examine age homophily as an underexamined response to appease some of the disruptiveness surrounding CEO succession episodes. Exploiting CEO succession as a theoretical context for change and an empirical identification strategy, we construct a sample of 391 successions in 297 Standard and Poor’s 500 index companies from 2000 to 2020 and apply a hierarchical linear modeling specification to test hypotheses. We find general support for the notion that age profiles of departing CEOs and incumbent top management teams (TMTs) tend to be reproduced across succession episodes. However, some intriguing patterns emerge when accounting for the origin of the incoming CEO. Notably, some of these general tendencies may be reinforced under outsider CEO successors—counter to the usual expectation for upheaval prompted by outside CEO appointments. We discuss implications for theory and practice.
期刊介绍：
Human Relations is an international peer reviewed journal, which publishes the highest quality original research to advance our understanding of social relationships at and around work through theoretical development and empirical investigation. Scope Human Relations seeks high quality research papers that extend our knowledge of social relationships at work and organizational forms, practices and processes that affect the nature, structure and conditions of work and work organizations. Human Relations welcomes manuscripts that seek to cross disciplinary boundaries in order to develop new perspectives and insights into social relationships and relationships between people and organizations. Human Relations encourages strong empirical contributions that develop and extend theory as well as more conceptual papers that integrate, critique and expand existing theory. Human Relations welcomes critical reviews and essays: - Critical reviews advance a field through new theory, new methods, a novel synthesis of extant evidence, or a combination of two or three of these elements. Reviews that identify new research questions and that make links between management and organizations and the wider social sciences are particularly welcome. Surveys or overviews of a field are unlikely to meet these criteria. - Critical essays address contemporary scholarly issues and debates within the journal''s scope. They are more controversial than conventional papers or reviews, and can be shorter. They argue a point of view, but must meet standards of academic rigour. Anyone with an idea for a critical essay is particularly encouraged to discuss it at an early stage with the Editor-in-Chief. Human Relations encourages research that relates social theory to social practice and translates knowledge about human relations into prospects for social action and policy-making that aims to improve working lives.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
