The Other Pathway to the Boardroom: Interpersonal Influence Behavior as a Substitute for Elite Credentials and Majority Status in Obtaining Board Appointments

Using survey data on interpersonal influence behavior from a large sample of managers and chief executive officers (CEOs) at Forbes 500 companies, we examine how ingratiatory behavior directed at individuals who control access to board positions can provide an alternative pathway to the boardroom for managers who lack the social and educational credentials associated with the power elite. Findings show that top managers who engage in ingratiatory behavior toward their CEO, with ingratiation comprising flattery, opinion conformity, and favor-rendering, will be more likely to receive board appointments at other firms where their CEO serves as director and at boards to which the CEO is indirectly connected in the board interlock network. Further results suggest that interpersonal influence behavior substitutes to some degree for the advantages of an elite background or demographic majority status. Our findings help explain why norms of director deference to CEOs have persisted despite increased diversity in the corporate elite and have implications for research on corporate governance, social networks in the corporate elite, and for the sociological question of whether demographic minorities and individuals who lack privileged backgrounds have equal access to positions of leadership in large U.S. companies. Our study ultimately suggests that such individuals face a rather subtle and perhaps unexpected form of social discrimination, in that they must engage in a higher level of interpersonal influence behavior in order to have the same chance of obtaining a board appointment.

[1]  J. Edward Jackson,et al.  A User's Guide to Principal Components: Jackson/User's Guide to Principal Components , 2004 .

[2]  M. Mizruchi.  Berle and Means revisited: The governance and power of large U.S. corporations , 2004 .

[3]  Marc-David L. Seidel,et al.  Research Impact: How Seemingly Innocuous Social Cues in a CEO Survey Can Lead to Change in Board of Director Network Ties , 2004 .

[4]  James D. Westphal,et al.  Keeping Directors in Line: Social Distancing as a Control Mechanism in the Corporate Elite , 2003 .

[5]  A. Hillman,et al.  Boards of Directors and Firm Performance: Integrating Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives , 2003 .

[6]  C. Crandall,et al.  A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  Charles B. Shrader,et al.  Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance , 2003 .

[8]  Mark C. Bolino,et al.  More Than One Way to Make an Impression: Exploring Profiles of Impression Management , 2003 .

[9]  Daniel M. Cable,et al.  Managers' upward influence tactic strategies: the role of manager personality and supervisor leadership style , 2003 .

[10]  Gerald R. Ferris,et al.  Influence tactics and work outcomes: a meta‐analysis , 2003 .

[11]  Erik Woody,et al.  Is who you are who you're talking to? Interpersonal style and complementarity in mixed-sex interactions. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  Amy J. Hillman,et al.  Women and Racial Minorities in the Boardroom: How Do Directors Differ? , 2002 .

[13]  Timothy G. Pollock,et al.  The Role of Power and Politics in the Repricing of Executive Options , 2002 .

[14]  Ann Marie Ryan,et al.  The use of impression management tactics in structured interviews: a function of question type? , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[15]  R. Vonk,et al.  Self-serving interpretations of flattery: why ingratiation works. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  P. Adler,et al.  Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept , 2002 .

[17]  Guido Hertel,et al.  Priming in-group favoritism: The impact of normative scripts in the minimal group paradigm. , 2001 .

[18]  V. Burris.  The Two Faces of Capital: Corporations and Individual Capitalists as Political Actors , 2001, American Sociological Review.

[19]  Terri L. Moore,et al.  Regression Analysis by Example , 2001, Technometrics.

[20]  M. Bolino,et al.  Achieving desired images while avoiding undesired images: exploring the role of self-monitoring in impression management. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[21]  A. Colella,et al.  The Impact of Subordinate Disability on Leader-Member Exchange Relationships , 2001 .

[22]  S. Rittenberg,et al.  The Inner Circle , 2001 .

[23]  Ajay Mehra,et al.  The Social Networks of High and Low Self-Monitors: Implications for Workplace Performance , 2001 .

[24]  R. Brown,et al.  Two forms of intergroup discrimination with positive and negative outcomes: explaining the positive-negative asymmetry effect. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[25]  Brad M. Barber,et al.  Challengers, Elites, and Owning Families: A Social Class Theory of Corporate Acquisitions in the 1960s , 2001 .

[26]  D. Cremer.  Relations of self-esteem concerns, group identification, and self-stereotyping to in-group favoritism. , 2001 .

[27]  A. Kristof-brown,et al.  PERCEIVED APPLICANT FIT: DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN RECRUITERS' PERCEPTIONS OF PERSON-JOB AND PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT , 2000 .

[28]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Aversive Racism and Selection Decisions: 1989 and 1999 , 2000, Psychological science.

[29]  James D. Westphal,et al.  How Experience and Network Ties Affect the Influence of Demographic Minorities on Corporate Boards , 2000 .

[30]  John M. Maslyn,et al.  Why Are Styles of Upward Influence Neglected? Making the Case for a Configurational Approach to Influences , 1999 .

[31]  M. Verkuyten,et al.  Self-categorisation and emotional reactions to ethnic minorities , 1999 .

[32]  S. Otten,et al.  To Our Benefit or at Your Expense? Justice Considerations in Intergroup Allocations of Positive and Negative Resources , 1999 .

[33]  Stephen Gary Marks,et al.  Separation of Ownership and Control , 2014 .

[34]  Dan R. Dalton,et al.  A decade of corporate women: some progress in the boardroom, none in the executive suite , 1999 .

[35]  B. Raven,et al.  Kurt Lewin Address: Influence, Power, Religion, and the Mechanisms of Social Control , 1999 .

[36]  W. Hochwarter,et al.  The ingratiation construct: An assessment of the validity of the Measure of Ingratiatory Behaviors in Organizational Settings (MIBOS). , 1998 .

[37]  James D. Westphal,et al.  Board Games: How CEOs Adapt to Increases in Structural Board Independence from Management , 1998 .

[38]  A. Kruglanski,et al.  Membership has its (epistemic) rewards: need for closure effects on in-group bias. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[39]  R. Vonk,et al.  The slime effect : Suspicion and dislike of likeable behavior toward superiors , 1998 .

[40]  G. Domhoff,et al.  Diversity in the Power Elite: Have Women and Minorities Reached the Top? , 1998 .

[41]  P. Newman.  The new Palgrave dictionary of economics and the law , 1998 .

[42]  Bernard Black.  Shareholder Activism and Corporate Governance in the United States , 1997 .

[43]  Gerald R. Ferris,et al.  THE ROLE OF UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN HUMAN RESOURCE DECISIONS , 1997 .

[44]  L. Donaldson.  Strategic Leadership: Top Executives and Their Effects on Organizations , 1997 .

[45]  Edward J. Zajac,et al.  Director reputation, CEO-board power, and the dynamics of board interlocks , 1996 .

[46]  H. Thomas,et al.  Developing the strategic board , 1996 .

[47]  Dave Broad.  The social register: Directory of America's upper class , 1996 .

[48]  C. Orpen.  Construct validation of a measure of ingratiatory behaviour in organizational settings , 1996 .

[49]  Randall A. Gordon,et al.  Impact of ingratiation on judgments and evaluations: A meta-analytic investigation. , 1996 .

[50]  B. Barry,et al.  Communication Aspects of Dyadic Social Influence in Organizations: A Review and Integration of Conceptual and Empirical Developments , 1996 .

[51]  S. Aryee,et al.  Early Career Outcomes of Graduate Employees: the Effect of Mentoring and Ingratiation , 1996 .

[52]  C. Stevens,et al.  Making the right impression: A field study of applicant impression management during job interviews. , 1995 .

[53]  R. Liden,et al.  Effects of impression management on performance ratings: A longitudinal study. , 1995 .

[54]  M. Ansari,et al.  Organizational Context and Ingratiatory Behavior in Organizations , 1994 .

[55]  Samuel B. Bacharach,et al.  Research In The Sociology Of Organizations , 1998 .

[56]  Tracy A. Thompson,et al.  A Social Movement Perspective on Corporate Control , 1994 .

[57]  Timothy A. Judge,et al.  Political Influence Behavior and Career Success , 1992 .

[58]  WHO GETS AHEAD IN THE MARKET FOR CORPORATE DIRECTORS: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MULTIPLE BOARD MEMBERSHIPS. , 1993 .

[59]  Steven M. Farmer,et al.  FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE OF UPWARD INFLUENCE STRATEGIES. , 1993 .

[60]  John D. Watt,et al.  The Impact of the Frequency of Ingratiation on the Performance Evaluation of Bank Personnel , 1993 .

[61]  S Finkelstein,et al.  Power in top management teams: dimensions, measurement, and validation. , 1992, Academy of Management journal. Academy of Management.

[62]  A. Demb,et al.  The corporate board: confronting the paradoxes. , 1992, Long range planning.

[63]  Robert F. DeVellis,et al.  Scale Development: Theory and Applications. , 1992 .

[64]  Lucy Johnston,et al.  Social categorization and person memory: The pervasiveness of race as an organizing principle , 1991 .

[65]  L. H. Chusmir,et al.  Dimensions of Success and Motivation Needs Among Managers , 1991 .

[66]  A. Tsui,et al.  Being different: Relational demography and organizational attachment. , 1991 .

[67]  Stephen J. Zaccaro,et al.  Self-monitoring and trait-based variance in leadership: An investigation of leader flexibility across multiple group situations. , 1991 .

[68]  M. Hogg,et al.  Social Attraction, Personal Attraction, and Self-Categorization-, A Field Study , 1991 .

[69]  J. Edward Jackson,et al.  A User's Guide to Principal Components. , 1991 .

[70]  Kamalesh Kumar,et al.  Construction and validation of an instrument for measuring ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings. , 1991 .

[71]  James P. Walsh,et al.  On the Efficiency of Internal and External Corporate Control Mechanisms , 1990 .

[72]  Chester A. Schriesheim,et al.  Influence tactics used by subordinates: A theoretical and empirical analysis and refinement of the Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson subscales. , 1990 .

[73]  Richard A. D'Aveni.  Top Managerial Prestige and Organizational Bankruptcy , 1990 .

[74]  D. Mackie,et al.  Intergroup relations. , 2019, Annual review of psychology.

[75]  Jay W. Lorsch,et al.  Pawns or Potentates: The Reality of America's Corporate Boards , 1989 .

[76]  M. Hogg,et al.  Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. , 1989 .

[77]  A. Tsui,et al.  Beyond Simple Demographic Effects: The Importance of Relational Demography in Superior-Subordinate Dyads , 1989 .

[78]  M. Crask,et al.  MAIL SURVEY RESPONSE RATE A META-ANALYSIS OF SELECTED TECHNIQUES FOR INDUCING RESPONSE , 1988 .

[79]  Terence R. Mitchell,et al.  Ingratiatory Behaviors in Organizational Settings , 1988 .

[80]  Jitendra V. Singh,et al.  The Ties That Bind: Organizational and Class Bases of Stability in a Corporate Interlock Network , 1986 .

[81]  S. Gangestad,et al.  On the nature of self-monitoring: matters of assessment, matters of validity. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[82]  Michael Useem,et al.  Pathways to Top Corporate Management , 1986 .

[83]  W. Newey,et al.  A Simple, Positive Semi-Definite, Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelationconsistent Covariance Matrix , 1986 .

[84]  Edward E. Jones,et al.  Self-promotion is not ingratiating. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[85]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[86]  Gerald R. Ferris,et al.  Personality, training performance, and withdrawal: A test of the person-group fit hypothesis for organizational newcomers , 1985 .

[87]  Roderick M. Kramer,et al.  The Psychology of Intergroup Attitudes and Behavior , 1985 .

[88]  H. Demsetz.  The Structure of Ownership and the Theory of the Firm , 1983, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[89]  E. Fama,et al.  Separation of Ownership and Control , 1983, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[90]  Ronald G. Stansfield,et al.  Sociological Methodology 1982 , 1983 .

[91]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  Social anxiety and self-presentation: a conceptualization and model. , 1982, Psychological bulletin.

[92]  M. Sobel.  Asymptotic Confidence Intervals for Indirect Effects in Structural Equation Models , 1982 .

[93]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Psychological perspectives on the self , 1982 .

[94]  Thomas H. Koenig,et al.  Interlocking Corporate Directorships as a Social Network , 1981 .

[95]  S. Levine.  The Rise of American Boarding Schools and the Development of a National Upper Class , 1980 .

[96]  D. Kipnis,et al.  Intraorganizational Influence Tactics: Explorations in Getting One's Way , 1980 .

[97]  J. Heckman,et al.  Does Unemployment Cause Future Unemployment? Definitions, Questions and Answers from a Continuous Time Model of Heterogeneity and State Dependence. , 1980 .

[98]  G. William Domhoff,et al.  The Powers That Be: Processes of Ruling Class Domination in America , 1978 .

[99]  Mary Anne Devanna.  Men and Women of the Corporation , 1978 .

[100]  D. Vogel.  Why Businessmen Distrust Their State: The Political Consciousness of American Corporate Executives , 1978, British Journal of Political Science.

[101]  Richard M. Steers,et al.  A Behaviorally-Based Measure of Manifest Needs in Work Settings. , 1976 .

[102]  N. Smelser,et al.  Annual Review of Sociology , 1975 .

[103]  J. Fleiss,et al.  Statistical methods for rates and proportions , 1973 .

[104]  Edward E. Jones,et al.  Ingratiation : an attributional approach , 1973 .

[105]  James J. Vanecko,et al.  The higher circles : the governing class in America , 1972 .

[106]  G. William Domhoff,et al.  Who Rules America? , 2021 .

[107]  Donn Byrne,et al.  Effect of economic similarity-dissimilarity on interpersonal attraction. , 1966 .

[108]  J Tudor-Hart,et al.  On the nature of prejudice. , 1961, The Eugenics review.

[109]  Ivone Kirkpatrick,et al.  The inner circle : memoirs , 1959 .

[110]  F. Heider.  The psychology of interpersonal relations , 1958 .