Often, newly appointed CEOs enter office with the mandate to initiate a strategic change. This change can disrupt established routines and interests, creating a fundamental leadership transition dilemma. This paper argues that strategic changes increase the likelihood of CEO early dismissal because boards may interpret negative stakeholder reactions as signals of weak leadership.
Using a sample of successions in S&P 1500 firms from 2002 to 2015 to support these predictions, this paper offers insights into how communication tactics can build stakeholder support for strategic change before CEOs have established a firm power base.
Authors and affiliations:
● Kexin Wang, Nankai University, China
● Zhe (Adele) Xing, Santa Clara University, USA
● Yinuo Tang, Peking University, China
● Xiwei Yi, Peking University, China
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