Research On The Influence Of CEO Characteristics On Firm Performance From The Perspective Of R&D Investment

In the information era of Big Data, business community respects elite governance. As the core of senior executives, CEO ability and character largely affect the firm performance. Since Hambrick and Mason(1984) proposed Upper echelons theory, many scholars began to study the relationship on the characteristics of senior executives and firm performance. It has been generally agreed that CEO characteristics affect the firm performannce, but the inner mechanism and effect of ways is not clear, which makes the conclusion of the study there is a certain bias. Meanwhile, with the accelerated process of industrialization and information, innovation that is an important strategic change is the source of firm performance growth, and is the key to the core competitiveness. But the executive cognitive model and bounded rationality restrict it. CEO, as the core of elite executives, plays an important role in strategic decision-making. In this article, we believe that CEO background characteristics and psychological characteristics are likely to have an impact on R&D investment, then influence innovation behavior and firm performance. In this article, the research interval is between 2012 and 2014. It chooses main board listed company A shares as the research object from the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Based on the “feature-behavior-the economic consequences” and in the perspective of corporation choosing R&D strategy, this article expects to set up a contact between CEO characteristicsl and firm performance. Which is to explore the internal mechanism between CEO characteristics and firm performance.In view of upper echelons theory, principal-agent theory, technical innovation theory and strategic leadership theory. This article makes an analysis on CEO characteristics, innovation and firm performance. In this article the research interval is between 2012 and 2014. It chooses main board listed company A shares as the research object from the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as panel data. In the perspective of R&D strategy, this article studies the relationship between CEO characteristics, firm performance and R&D strategy with mediator method. Among them, this article puts the age, education, technical background and tenure as a proxy variable characteristics, as well as the use of R&D strategy to measure corporate innovation behavior. And at last, through the use of mediator method, this article studies the relationship among CEO characteristics, R&D investment and firm performance, aimed at verifing the existence of intermediary effect between CEO characteristics and firm performance. Which will help explain the impact pathway and mechanism between CEO characteristics and firm performance. The empirical results show: the longer CEO tenure is, the worse firm performance will be. The higher CEO age and education is, the better firm performance will be. The more CEO technical background has been, the better firm performance will be. The longer CEO tenure is, the less R&D strategy will be. The higher CEO age and education is, the more R&D strategy will be. The more CEO technical background has been, the more R&D strategy will be. CEO characteristics influence the firm performance through the choice of R&D strategy, which acts as part of the mediating variable. Based on the empirical conclusions, this article puts forward some policy recommendations: building and optimizing the appointment system of corporate managers; establishing the organizational culture and building a learning organization; strengthening R&D strategy and enhancing corporate value; accelerating the development and improvement of professional managers market.In the view of corporation choosing R&D strategy and based on the “feature-behavior-the economic consequences”, this article takes the upper echelons theory as foundation and studies the relationship between CEO characteristics and firm performance, so as to provide empirical evidence on how the corporate executives affect R&D strategy and firm performance. Meanwhile, it has practical significance in choosing corporate managers and enhancing firm performance.