20.09.2024Prof Keil publishes new work on military directors in Strategic Management Journal

Military directors – outside directors with military backgrounds – frequently occupy seats on the boards of publicly listed firms. In their new Strategic Management Journal article Prof Stevo Pavicevic, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and Prof Keil explore the role of these directors in the dismissal of underperforming CEOs. Military service instills an enduring system of values and beliefs rooted in accountability, which makes military directors more inclined to attribute performance shortfalls to the CEO and advocate for more rigorous CEO accountability, resulting in CEO dismissal. The argument is supported by quantitative data on CEO dismissals within publicly listed firms and qualitative data derived from interviews with military directors who have served on boards of those firms. Findings underscore that principles ingrained via military service may influence corporate governance, particularly one of its core components: executive accountability.