CEO characteristics, strategy, and performance: An empirical study of declining organizations

The ability to turn around from declining performance is critical for the long-term survival of an organization. The purpose of this dissertation was to empirically examine how the characteristics of the CEO impact the selection of turnaround strategies and which strategies prove most successful.;The findings of this dissertation indicate that CEO succession may not be required in order to turn around declining performance. If an organization decides to select a new CEO, it is more likely that the selection would come from within the organization. The results of this dissertation also highlight that CEOs have experience in many different functional areas and, regardless of their functional background, a combination of both operational and strategic turnaround strategies are selected in order to turnaround the organization.