CEO dismissal decisions generally serve as a disciplinary means for poor corporate performance and are therefore regarded as an indicator for the effective monitoring of the top executive. In this vein, CEO dismissal events often evoke great attention in the public media. However, the impact of corporate performance on CEO dismissal decisions is often influenced by other factors.
The author addresses this phenomenon in three empirical studies by investigating the role of hitherto widely neglected factors such as status, social influence and different shareholder types for CEO dismissals in the German corporate governance context.