高管权力差距的“双刃剑”效应——来自企业绩效与绩效稳定性的证据

The Double⁃edged Sword Effect of the Executive Power Distance:Evidence from Firm Performance and Performance Stability

尽管高阶梯队理论已经认识到高管团队权力配置的重要意义,但目前关于高管权力差距对企业绩效影响的研究并未得出一致结论,且尚未将企业绩效稳定性纳入研究框架。基于此,本文从权威和信息两个核心作用机制出发,尝试提出一个综合性的理论框架,以解释企业高管权力差距对企业绩效和绩效稳定性的影响,并以2000—2016年中国沪深两市上市公司为研究样本进行实证,本文发现:董事长与总经理间的权力差距对企业绩效有正面影响,但对绩效稳定性则有负面影响,即高管权力差距存在“双刃剑”效应。进一步研究显示,董事长和总经理之间的长期合作能够强化权力差距对企业绩效的正面影响,弱化其对绩效稳定性的负面影响。同时,高管权力差距的“双刃剑”效应在民营企业与多元化程度较高的企业中更为显著。本文的研究揭示了高管权力差距对企业绩效与绩效稳定性的影响,丰富了现有文献对权力和高管团队研究的认识,也为实践中不同情境下的团队搭配提供了启示。

Research on the impact of the power distance between CEO and other executives on firm performance is largely inconclusive and even conflicting.Some empirical studies demonstrated a positive impact of the power differential.The underlying rationale is that power distance can bring benefits to organizations by way of clear“authority”that leads to“unity of command”.Other studies documented that the centralization of power in the CEO hurts firm performance,arguing that power distance negatively influences information sharing in the top management team and thus the entire organization.This paper proposes a comprehensive framework to understand the impact of power distance at the strategic apex(i.e.,board chair⁃president dyad in Chinese firms)on firm performance,arguing that power distance has a positive effect on the mean of performance and a negative influence on the stability of performance(“double⁃edged sword”).Empirically,the research uses all publicly listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges over the period of 2000-2016 as the sample,employing regression analysis and various other research methods to test the hypotheses.Considering that power is a multi⁃dimensional concept,the study uses four indicators⁃salary,stock shares,educational attainment,political background to obtain the index of power,hence the power distance between the board chair and president.For dependent variables,this paper uses return on assets(ROA)to measure the mean performance and deviation from the mean as performance stability.After controlling various related variables and conducting robustness check,the paper confirms the proposed double⁃edged effects of power distance upon firm performance.In addition,the research also finds that the“dyadic cohesion”between board chair⁃president dyad strengthens the positive impact of the power distance on performance and alleviates the negative effect of power distance on performance stability.Next,the paper reveals that firm attributes such as corporate ownership(POE vs.SOE)and diversification profile also moderate the power distance⁃performance relationship.The“double⁃edged sword”effects are stronger in privately owned enterprises and in firms with higher level of diversification.Our study contributes to the literature in several significant ways.First,extant research predominantly emphasizes the impact of power structure or distribution on performance,often neglecting its impact on the stability of firm performance.This neglect is regretful considering that shareholders often pay equal attention to performance stability and business sustainability.We investigate the relationship between power distribution and firm performance in a more nuanced way,which unveils the“double⁃edged sword effect”of power distance on organizational performance.Second,the study examines the most salient power structure in Chinese corporations,specifically the dual⁃leadership system of the board chair⁃president,capturing the critical and subtle implications of such dyadic power distribution.Further,we identify a good team configuration(i.e.,dyadic cohesion)that can magnify the positive effect while alleviating the negative effect of power differential.Finally,we explore important firm attributes(i.e.,organizational ownership and diversification profile)that moderate these double⁃edged effects.The research findings present the following implications for practitioners.First,firms should adopt a dialectical perspective on the impact of executive power disparities,taking both its positive and negative effect into consideration.Second,firms should proactively guide their executive team members to cultivate correct values on power,preventing the potential involution of personal competition into power struggles.The findings in this paper is not only applicable to Chinese firms,but can also be extended to a broader range of scenarios.To be more specific,these results are applicable to less institutionalized environments where the individual characteristics of the leaders are still crucial for them to gain authority.In addition,our theory may be better applied to the European model and the situation of co⁃leaders,since in Europe,the chair and the CEO positions often separate,thus creating shared responsibility and role ambiguity.To conclude,the study captures the subtle relationship between power distance and firm performance,enriching the research on power and top management teams.