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Title: CFO as a Strategic Partner of the CEO: Relational Demography and Firm Financial Performance

Authors: Jing Han; Jidong Zhang; Jian Han

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: This paper highlights the importance of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as a strategic partner of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Using a sample of 119 firms with a longitudinal design, a strategic partnership between the CFO and the CEO is found to have a positive influence on the firm's financial performance. Moreover, a series of propositions about the impact of the relational demography between the CEO and CFO on the CFO's strategic partnership with the CEO are tested. The results show that similarities in the CEO and CFO's educational level and tenure in the firm have an indirect positive effect on the firm's financial performance through the CFO's strategic partnership with the CEO. The theory and results presented herein provide the impetus for research on the role of the CFO in strategic management.

Keywords: CFO-CEO partnership; relational demography; financial performance; strategic management; longitudinal study.

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.2015.141229

Journal of Business and Management, 2015 Vol.21 No.1, pp.59 - 76

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *