The effect of strategic leadership on organizational performance has been a topic of research for decades, but the results have been inconclusive. Some researchers argue that chief executive officers (CEOs) are critical to organizational effectiveness, while others say that situational factors are more important than the leaders. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between CEO leadership attributes and organizational effectiveness and to investigate the moderating effects of situational uncertainty and the mediating role of organizational culture....[ Read more ]

The effect of strategic leadership on organizational performance has been a topic of research for decades, but the results have been inconclusive. Some researchers argue that chief executive officers (CEOs) are critical to organizational effectiveness, while others say that situational factors are more important than the leaders. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between CEO leadership attributes and organizational effectiveness and to investigate the moderating effects of situational uncertainty and the mediating role of organizational culture.

The dissertation is composed of three studies. The first study explores the categories of CEO leadership attributes that are indigenous to the Chinese context. Based on the existing literature of behavioral complexity, charisma, and paternalism, nine categories of CEO leadership attributes are identified through an inductive approach. Study two is conducted to develop a scale of CEO leadership attributes and a measure of organizational culture. The CEO leadership attributes scale contains six dimensions, including Creative and Risk-taking, Interpersonal Relationship, Benevolence, Articulating Vision, Authoritarian, and Analyzer. The organizational culture measure consists of five dimensions, including internal integration values (Harmony and Pragmatism) and external adaptation values (Customer Orientation, Innovation, and Outcome Orientation).

The hypotheses are tested through a matched data set including CEOs and their followers. The results show that Analyzer and Articulating Vision dimensions of CEO leadership attributes are directly linked to firm performance. Benevolence and Authoritarian dimensions influence employee attitudes of perceived organizational support, justice perceptions and intention to quit. Interpersonal Relationship dimension has direct effects on employees' distributive justice perception and intention to quit.

The influences of CEO leadership attributes on firm performance are moderated by perceived environment uncertainty. In a situation perceived as highly uncertain, CEOs with high level of Articulating Vision have stronger influence on firm performance than those with low level of Articulating Vision. Creative and Risk-taking dimension positively influences firm performance when organizations are operating in a relatively less uncertain environment Furthermore, CEO leadership attributes have direct links to organizational culture values. Analyzer, Interpersonal Relationship, and Benevolence dimensions are positively related to organizational culture values on internal integration function. Analyzer, Interpersonal Relationship, Creative and Risk-taking, and Articulating Vision dimensions have positive effects on external adaptation values. Finally, the effects of CEO leadership attributes on firm performance and employees’ attitudes are mediated by organizational culture values. Analyzer, Interpersonal Relationship, Benevolence and Authoritarian influence internal integration values of organizational culture and then affect employee attitudes. The effects of Analyzer, Interpersonal Relationship, Articulating Vision as well as Creative and Risk-taking dimensions on firm performance are mediated by external adaptation values. Limitations and future research are discussed.

Keywords: Strategic Leadership, Situational Uncertainty, Organizational Culture, Organizational Effectiveness