Are founder-CEOs resilient to crises? The impact of founder-CEO succession on new firm survival

This article explores whether new firms managed by founder-chief executive officers (CEOs) are more likely to survive than those managed by successor-CEOs in times of crisis. Drawing on the concept of ‘resilience’ to adversity, we argue that founder-CEOs increase the likelihood of new firm survival, especially in times of crisis. Using a sample of Japanese firms founded during the 2003–2010 period, we examine the impact of founder-CEO succession on new firm survival. The analysis shows that new firms managed by founder-CEOs are less likely to liquidate than those managed by successor-CEOs, especially during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. This suggests that founder-CEOs are more resilient to crises than successor-CEOs. In contrast, new firms managed by successor-CEOs are more likely to exit via merger than those managed by founder-CEOs, regardless of macroeconomic conditions. These findings are robust after controlling for the endogeneity of CEO succession.

The Wheel Comes Full Circle? An Integrated View of Organizational Responses to Institutional Pressures

In the face of increasing pressure to comply with institutional norms, firm managers may retreat from previous commitments to comply once they realize the challenges involved. This study examines how firms respond to institutional pressures in a particular way called reversion, in which an organization's managers temporarily comply when there are no consequences but resist when it is in their interest to resist. By integrating institutional and agency theories, we model the reversion decision as a tension between institutional constituents and organizational managers. An empirical analysis of a sample of Japanese firms that scheduled annual shareholder meetings during the 2001 through 2014 period was performed. Our findings show that although organizations’ susceptibility to certain institutional pressures determines initial organizational compliance, managers whose interests diverge from those of the institutional constituents can revert their decisions, especially when they have discretion in decision making to protect their own interests. These findings highlight the temporary nature of organizational responses to institutional pressures and help us understand how organizational agency can limit institutional control over an organization's actions.

The Inferred Determinants of Employees’ Turnover Intention: A Comparison between Japanese and Foreign-Owned Firms in Japan

This study compares the factors that are inferred to directly and indirectly influence the process of determining employees’ turnover intention in Japan. This study focuses on the differences made by firm type, that is, Japanese firms vs. foreign-owned or foreign-affiliated firms. Multiple-group structural equation modeling was attempted by applying factors such as perceived organizational support, the positiveness of a worker, firm-specific skills, organizational commitment, perception of career opportunities within the current firm and in other firms, and turnover intention. It was found that the inferred determinants of turnover intention differed by firm type; specifically, career prospects, either internal or external, do not directly affect turnover intention in Japanese firms. For workers in foreign firms, positivity is significantly higher than that of Japanese firms. Positivity plays a crucial role in both firms; moreover, our study provides supporting evidence of the existence of sub-markets in Japan and shows that the transition of workers from foreign-owned to Japanese firms might be rare.