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Everything Under My Control: CEO Characteristics and the Evaluation of Middle Manager Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Firms

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  • Nora Haas

    (WU Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Gerhard Speckbacher

    (WU Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

Studies of small and medium-sized enterprises have provided evidence that CEOs of such firms can have a dominating influence on firm activities. Drawing on upper echelons theory, we analyze the influence of CEO personality (CEO internal locus of control), CEO ownership and CEO education on the evaluation of middle manager performance. In line with our expectations, we find evidence for a direct effect of CEO ownership (negative) and CEO education (positive) on the use of objective performance evaluations and for a direct effect of the CEO’s internal locus of control on the use of subjective performance evaluations. Moreover, we provide evidence for a moderating role of both CEO ownership and education with respect to the influence of the CEO’s locus of control on the use of subjective evaluations. We use a sample of 247 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms to test our hypotheses.

Suggested Citation

  • Nora Haas & Gerhard Speckbacher, 2017. "Everything Under My Control: CEO Characteristics and the Evaluation of Middle Manager Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Firms," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(2), pages 109-128, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:schmbr:v:18:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s41464-017-0027-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s41464-017-0027-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Anja Heinicke, 2018. "Performance measurement systems in small and medium-sized enterprises and family firms: a systematic literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 457-502, February.
    2. Dhouha Bouaziz, 2024. "Does the CEO's Entrenchment Affect the Financial Communication Quality? Empirical Evidence from France," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 107-133, January.
    3. Sergio Ochoa Jiménez & Alma Rocío García García & Beatriz Alicia Leyva Osuna & Sacnicté Valdez del Río, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Behavior of SMEs and Characteristics of the Managers of Northwest Mexico," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Iryna Alves & Sofia M. Lourenço, 2022. "The use of non-financial performance measures for managerial compensation: evidence from SMEs," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 151-187, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Small and medium-sized Enterprises; CEO personality; Performance evaluations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation

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