CEO-Senior executive dissimilarity and CEO dismissal: The moderating role of power distance

The extant literature has focused on economic and political factors as the key determinants of CEO dismissal. This study draws from social psychological perspectives to investigate how the social psychological dynamics between senior executives and CEOs might play a role in CEO dismissal. The results show that (1) CEOs dissimilar to senior executives are less likely to be dismissed and (2) the negative effect of CEO-senior executive dissimilarity on CEO dismissal is more salient in low power distance societies.