The fast-track ascent to the top: The role of human capital in European listed firms

IF 7.5 2区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

European Management Journal Pub Date : 2024-02-26 DOI:10.1016/j.emj.2024.02.002

Meysam Salimi, Maria Laura Frigotto, Enrico Zaninotto, Massimiliano Vatiero

{"title":"The fast-track ascent to the top: The role of human capital in European listed firms","authors":"Meysam Salimi, Maria Laura Frigotto, Enrico Zaninotto, Massimiliano Vatiero","doi":"10.1016/j.emj.2024.02.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on human capital theory, this study examines the role of different components of human capital—education (level and type), tenure, and career variety (functional, industry, firm, and country variety)—in the rapid or “fast-track” career ascent of individuals to their first top management position (highest level of organisational hierarchy) as chief executive officer (CEO) or non-CEO Senior Manager (SM). Using a retrospective approach to the career trajectories of over 7500 CEOs and non-CEO SMs s in European listed firms, we show the commonalities and differences in the composition of human capital in the career progressions of both groups. The results reveal that the human capital that accelerates CEOs’ careers include an MBA degree and long tenure, especially when combined with firm variety. In contrast, for non-CEO SMs, a high level of education and low functional variety accelerated their career ascent. For non-CEO SMs, tenure has a negative effect that is alleviated by career variety. By explicating the components of human capital, we suggest that many forms of career variety, such as experience acquired across countries, industries, or firms, are not valued in a fast-track career, and hardly create valuable human capital for top positions. Our study paves the way for exploring the composition of human capital not only for different organisational roles, but also for different hierarchical levels.","PeriodicalId":48290,"journal":{"name":"European Management Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Management Journal","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2024.02.002","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Drawing on human capital theory, this study examines the role of different components of human capital—education (level and type), tenure, and career variety (functional, industry, firm, and country variety)—in the rapid or “fast-track” career ascent of individuals to their first top management position (highest level of organisational hierarchy) as chief executive officer (CEO) or non-CEO Senior Manager (SM). Using a retrospective approach to the career trajectories of over 7500 CEOs and non-CEO SMs s in European listed firms, we show the commonalities and differences in the composition of human capital in the career progressions of both groups. The results reveal that the human capital that accelerates CEOs’ careers include an MBA degree and long tenure, especially when combined with firm variety. In contrast, for non-CEO SMs, a high level of education and low functional variety accelerated their career ascent. For non-CEO SMs, tenure has a negative effect that is alleviated by career variety. By explicating the components of human capital, we suggest that many forms of career variety, such as experience acquired across countries, industries, or firms, are not valued in a fast-track career, and hardly create valuable human capital for top positions. Our study paves the way for exploring the composition of human capital not only for different organisational roles, but also for different hierarchical levels.

查看原文本刊更多论文

快速攀登高峰：人力资本在欧洲上市公司中的作用

本研究以人力资本理论为基础，探讨了人力资本的不同组成部分--教育（水平和类型）、任期和职业多样性（职能、行业、公司和国家多样性）--在个人快速或 "快速 "晋升至其首个高层管理职位（组织层次结构的最高级别）--首席执行官（CEO）或非首席执行官高级经理（SM）--中的作用。通过对欧洲上市公司中 7500 多名首席执行官和非首席执行官高级经理的职业轨迹进行回顾，我们展示了这两个群体在职业发展过程中人力资本构成的共性和差异。结果显示，能加速首席执行官职业发展的人力资本包括工商管理硕士学位和长期任职，尤其是在与公司多样性相结合的情况下。相反，对于非首席执行官的高级管理人才来说，高教育水平和低职能多样性加速了他们的职业发展。对于非首席执行官的 SM 来说，任期会产生负面影响，而职业多样性会减轻这种影响。通过阐释人力资本的构成要素，我们认为，许多形式的职业多样性，如跨国家、跨行业或跨公司获得的经验，在快速职业生涯中并不受重视，很难为高层职位创造有价值的人力资本。我们的研究不仅为探讨不同组织角色的人力资本构成，也为探讨不同层级的人力资本构成铺平了道路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

European Management Journal Multiple-

CiteScore

12.90

自引率

5.30%

发文量

113

审稿时长

74 days

期刊介绍： The European Management Journal (EMJ) stands as a premier scholarly publication, disseminating cutting-edge research spanning all realms of management. EMJ articles challenge conventional wisdom through rigorously informed empirical and theoretical inquiries, offering fresh insights and innovative perspectives on key management themes while remaining accessible and engaging for a wide readership. EMJ articles embody intellectual curiosity and embrace diverse methodological approaches, yielding contributions that significantly influence both management theory and practice. We actively seek interdisciplinary research that integrates distinct research traditions to illuminate contemporary challenges within the expansive domain of European business and management. We strongly encourage cross-cultural investigations addressing the unique challenges faced by European management scholarship and practice in navigating global issues and contexts.