When do CEOs versus top management teams matter in explaining strategic decision-making processes? Toward an institutional view of strategic leadership effects

Theory on strategic leadership effects gives short shrift to the institutional context in establishing the impact of chief executive officers (ceos) and top management teams (tmts) on strategic decision making processes. In this article we develop the argument that the institutional context of the country in which they are embedded centrally shape the extent to which ceo or tmt characteristics provide more accurate predictions of strategic decision-making processes. We develop a set of exemplary propositions to substantiate this thesis and trace its implications for theory and testing on strategic leadership effects on the firm.