CEO succession and firms' internationalization processes: Insights from German companies

This article analyses the relationship between CEO succession events and German firms' internationalization processes, which is represented by the degree of internationalization (DOI) growth and internationalization rhythm. Based on a theoretical framework combining elements of agency theory, institutionalism and upper echelons approach, we propose a longitudinal model to examine the relationships of both process variables with the number of CEO changes and succession type (internal vs. external succession), respectively. The results of our study of 102 German firms over 23 years (1990-2012) show an inverted U-shaped impact (no impact) of the number of CEO changes (succession type) on the DOI growth and a positive (negative) monotonic effect on the rhythm of internationalization.