Sharing Executive Power: Roles and Relationships at the Top

José Luis Alvarez · Silviya Svejenova

Dec 2005 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

In many companies, two or three executives jointly hold the responsibilities at the top-from the charismatic CEO who relies on the operational expertise of a COO, to co-CEOs who trust in inter-personal bonds to achieve professional results. Their collaboration is essential if they are to address the dilemmas of the top job and the demands of today's corporate governance. Sharing Executive Power examines the behaviour of such duos, trios and small teams, what roles their members play and how their professional and inter-personal relationships bind their work together. It answers some critical questions regarding when and how such power sharing units form and break up, how they perform and why they endure. Understanding their dynamics helps improve the design and composition of corporate power structures. The book is essential reading for academics, graduates, MBAs, and executives interested in enhancing teamwork and cooperation at the top.

About the author

José Luis Alvarez is Professor of General Management at Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid, where he directs its Center for Corporate Governance.

Silviya Svejenova is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at ESADE Business School in Barcelona and a Visiting Lecturer in Organisation Theory in the PhD and DBA programs at the Cranfield School of Management.