External labor market strategy and career success: CEO careers in Europe and the United States

Hamori, Monika; Kakarika, Maria

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the career histories of the chief executive officers (CEOs) affiliated with the 500 largest organizations in Europe and the 500 largest in the United States. Our purpose is to determine whether frequent career moves across employers, a phenomenon we label an “external labor market strategy,” brings greater career rewards than moves inside the same organization. The results reveal that an external labor market strategy is negatively related to career success. On both continents, CEOs who have spent a smaller fraction of their career in their current organization or have changed employers more often have taken a longer time from the start of their career to be promoted to the most influential corporate positions. The labor market institutions in the 22 countries sampled do not influence the relationship between an external labor market strategy and career success, while the specific geographic region in which the employers are located has a limited impact on this relationship.

Citation

Hamori, M., & Kakarika, M. (2009). External labor market strategy and career success: CEO careers in Europe and the United States. Human Resource Management, 48(3), 355-378. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20285

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 21, 2009
• Publication Date: 2009-05
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2023
• Journal: Human Resource Management
• Print ISSN: 0090-4848
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-050X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 355-378
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20285
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1177981