Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance

Jueni Lyu; Yi Tang; Guoli Chen

doi:10.5465/AMPROC.2023.12125abstract

Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance

Jueni Lyu, Yi Tang, Guoli Chen

Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › peer-review

Abstract

In response to the recent call in the upper echelons research for more attention to executives’ off-the-job experiences, this study examines an interestingly prevailing facet in CEOs’ personal lives: running-marathons. Running marathons shapes not only CEOs’ physical fitness but also their cognitions and values, affecting their firms’ decisions and outcomes. Specifically, we examine how a CEO’s running a marathon is associated with his/her firm’s strategic persistence and firm performance under various environmental conditions. We tested our predictions using a unique, hand collected dataset from the World Marathon Majors (WMM) participation records during 2009-2019. Our results suggest a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm strategic persistence. Moreover, the relationship between marathon CEO and strategic persistence turns stronger when the CEO runs more marathons and when the CEO run marathons for longer time. Finally, we find that when environmental adversity is high, there is a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance. However, when environmental dynamism is high, the relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance becomes negative. Implications to upper echelons theory and strategic leadership literature are discussed.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Academy of Management Proceedings 2023
Editors	Sonia Taneja
Publisher	Academy of Management
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2023.12125abstract
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2023
Event	83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2023: Putting the Worker Front and Center - Boston, United States Duration: 4 Aug 2023 → 8 Aug 2023 https://www.xcdsystem.com/aom/program/A5p5d1k/index.cfm?pgid=891&RunRemoveSessionFilter=1 (Link to conference programme ) https://journals.aom.org/toc/amproc/2023/1 (Conference Proceedings) https://journals.aom.org/loi/amproc/group/d2020.y2023 (Conference Proceedings)

Publication series

Name	Academy of Management Proceedings
Number	1
Volume	2023
ISSN (Print)	0065-0668
ISSN (Electronic)	2151-6561

Conference

Conference	83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2023
Country/Territory	United States
City	Boston
Period	4/08/23 → 8/08/23
Internet address	https://www.xcdsystem.com/aom/program/A5p5d1k/index.cfm?pgid=891&RunRemoveSessionFilter=1 (Link to conference programme ) https://journals.aom.org/toc/amproc/2023/1 (Conference Proceedings) https://journals.aom.org/loi/amproc/group/d2020.y2023 (Conference Proceedings)

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10.5465/AMPROC.2023.12125abstract

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@inproceedings{153d34125eb442f2a8a1404da1b2c337,

title = "Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance",

abstract = "In response to the recent call in the upper echelons research for more attention to executives{\textquoteright} off-the-job experiences, this study examines an interestingly prevailing facet in CEOs{\textquoteright} personal lives: running-marathons. Running marathons shapes not only CEOs{\textquoteright} physical fitness but also their cognitions and values, affecting their firms{\textquoteright} decisions and outcomes. Specifically, we examine how a CEO{\textquoteright}s running a marathon is associated with his/her firm{\textquoteright}s strategic persistence and firm performance under various environmental conditions. We tested our predictions using a unique, hand collected dataset from the World Marathon Majors (WMM) participation records during 2009-2019. Our results suggest a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm strategic persistence. Moreover, the relationship between marathon CEO and strategic persistence turns stronger when the CEO runs more marathons and when the CEO run marathons for longer time. Finally, we find that when environmental adversity is high, there is a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance. However, when environmental dynamism is high, the relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance becomes negative. Implications to upper echelons theory and strategic leadership literature are discussed.",

author = "Jueni Lyu and Yi Tang and Guoli Chen",

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booktitle = "Academy of Management Proceedings 2023",

address = "United States",

note = "83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2023 : Putting the Worker Front and Center ; Conference date: 04-08-2023 Through 08-08-2023",

url = "https://www.xcdsystem.com/aom/program/A5p5d1k/index.cfm?pgid=891&RunRemoveSessionFilter=1, https://journals.aom.org/toc/amproc/2023/1, https://journals.aom.org/loi/amproc/group/d2020.y2023",

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Lyu, J, Tang, Y & Chen, G 2023, Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance. in S Taneja (ed.), Academy of Management Proceedings 2023. Academy of Management Proceedings, no. 1, vol. 2023, Academy of Management, 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2023, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 4/08/23. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2023.12125abstract

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T1 - Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance

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AU - Chen, Guoli

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N2 - In response to the recent call in the upper echelons research for more attention to executives’ off-the-job experiences, this study examines an interestingly prevailing facet in CEOs’ personal lives: running-marathons. Running marathons shapes not only CEOs’ physical fitness but also their cognitions and values, affecting their firms’ decisions and outcomes. Specifically, we examine how a CEO’s running a marathon is associated with his/her firm’s strategic persistence and firm performance under various environmental conditions. We tested our predictions using a unique, hand collected dataset from the World Marathon Majors (WMM) participation records during 2009-2019. Our results suggest a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm strategic persistence. Moreover, the relationship between marathon CEO and strategic persistence turns stronger when the CEO runs more marathons and when the CEO run marathons for longer time. Finally, we find that when environmental adversity is high, there is a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance. However, when environmental dynamism is high, the relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance becomes negative. Implications to upper echelons theory and strategic leadership literature are discussed.

AB - In response to the recent call in the upper echelons research for more attention to executives’ off-the-job experiences, this study examines an interestingly prevailing facet in CEOs’ personal lives: running-marathons. Running marathons shapes not only CEOs’ physical fitness but also their cognitions and values, affecting their firms’ decisions and outcomes. Specifically, we examine how a CEO’s running a marathon is associated with his/her firm’s strategic persistence and firm performance under various environmental conditions. We tested our predictions using a unique, hand collected dataset from the World Marathon Majors (WMM) participation records during 2009-2019. Our results suggest a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm strategic persistence. Moreover, the relationship between marathon CEO and strategic persistence turns stronger when the CEO runs more marathons and when the CEO run marathons for longer time. Finally, we find that when environmental adversity is high, there is a positive relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance. However, when environmental dynamism is high, the relationship between marathon CEO and firm performance becomes negative. Implications to upper echelons theory and strategic leadership literature are discussed.

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Towards the Finish Line: Marathon CEOs, Strategic Persistence and Firm Performance

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