Hampering the change: Consequences of the CEO's strategic commitment under managerial discretion

Abstract

CEOs play a central role for the strategic outcomes of their firms. Although research has provided many insights about the factors determining CEOs' openness toward strategic changes, the consequences of these attitudes have not been sufficiently investigated. To assess the consequences of willingness for change at the CEO level, we used the concepts of Commitment to the Status Quo (CSQ) (i.e., the belief in the enduring correctness of current strategies) and evaluate its effects for strategic persistence under the moderating role of managerial discretion. Our sample is based on 178 publicly traded firms in Germany over 10 years. Our results show that CSQ at the CEO level is crucial for strategic development only in situations of sufficiently high managerial discretion. Namely, a significant impact of the CEO's mental attitude is observable only in scenarios with high product differentiability, high market growth, bad past performance, or small companies.