The Antecedents of Simultaneous Appointments to CEO and Chair

Authors

Wallace N. Davidson III, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Yixi Ning, University of Houston-Victoria
David Rakowski, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Eahab Elsaid, University of Windsor

Comments

Published in Journal of Management and Governance, Vol. 12, No. 4 (November 2008) at 10.1007/s10997-008-9066-5

Abstract

In relay succession, boards add the Chair title to successful CEOs, creating duality. Sometimes boards by-pass relay succession and appoint an individual directly into the dual position. We propose that this will occur when there is the need for an unambiguous leader and when the appointee has greater bargaining power. We show that following the firing of the predecessor, when the successor is an outsider, and when the successor is not the designated heir, the incidence of simultaneous dual appointments increases. We also find that executives appointed into the dual positions are older than those appointed only as a CEO.

Recommended Citation

Davidson, Wallace N. III, Ning, Yixi, Rakowski, David and Elsaid, Eahab. "The Antecedents of Simultaneous Appointments to CEO and Chair." (Nov 2008).