Human Resource Management Leadership Succession in Multinationals: Are Japanese CEOs still more likely to be hired from within Company Ranks than US CEOs? Jim Tanoos

Abstract

The study of CEO human resource management has been popular because of the stakes involved in anticipating and predicting effects on corporate stock prices.  Local customs affect regional organizational leadership philosophies, including societal norms common to America and Japan, which prompt management structures to be unique for each country.  A prolonged slowdown in the Japanese economy starting in the early 1990s has caused scholars to debate the impact of coinciding declines in their traditional organizational management templates and its impact on current CEO hiring approaches for multinational corporations based in Japan.  Today, many scholars predict that fewer Japanese CEOs will be hired from within company ranks.  As such, this study reports on the proportions of CEOs that are hired from outside the multinational corporation in the US versus Japan.

Keywords: organizational leadership, leadership succession, multinational corporation, Japanese CEO, American CEO, seniority, hiring practices, societal norms, human resource management