AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CEO AND OVERALL CORPORATE REPUTATION

Peter A. Stanwick

Sarah D. Stanwick

Auburn University Auburn , AL


Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the overall co1porate reputation of an organization and the background characteristics of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) across twenty one major industry classifications. Four background characteristics are examined: (1) age, (2) tenure with the company, (3) tenure as CEO, and (4) functional background (career path). These characteristics are explored by examining the overall corporate reputation of the organization through a proxy, the Fortune Corporate Reputation Index. Drawing on past research in the area of back- ground characteristics (Hambrick and Mason, 1984) and co1porate reputation (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990), hypotheses were tested which examined the back- ground characteristics of CEOs and the company's overall corporate reputation. The results of this paper show that, in general, the CEOs background characteristics impact the level of overall co1porate reputation of the firm. The type of functional background of the CEO has a significant positive impact on the level of overall corporate reputation. Over a four year time period (1990 to 1994), age, tenure with the company, and tenure as CEO were negatively related to the overall co1porate reputation of organizations that retained their CEO. For firms that had replaced the CEO, a positive relationship between overall co1porate reputation and tenure with the company and age was discovered.

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