Chief executives’ self-regulation and strategic orientation: A theoretical model

SummaryA long-standing issue in strategy research is the relationship between executive individual characteristics, strategic decisions, and resulting outcomes. I refocus upper echelons theory on executives’ psychological processes represented by their self-regulation (promotion vs. prevention). Through a set of propositions, I connect executives’ self-regulation with strategic processes and outcomes, and discuss the benefit of incorporating promotion and prevention modes of regulation in research focusing on executives.