Career Paths of German Business Administration Academics

The question of how the career path for professors should be structured is a central issue in the current debate on reforming higher education in Germany. In order to substantiate current discussions on promotion and faculty development this study presents empirical data on the biographies of 699 professors of business administration at German universities. The internet-based data collection provides descriptive analyses on the pathways to the professiorate, including age, sex, educational background, mobility and social networks of business professors. The results suggest that career opportunities for academics in business administration vary widely across different age cohorts. Business professors in Germany show a high mobility, and the ability to accumulate social capital differs significantly between male and female professors. The implications for policy makers and young academics are discussed.Die Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses an Hochschulen ist eines der zentralen bildungspolitischen Reformthemen. Die vorliegende Studie präsentiert aktuelles empirisches Datenmaterial zur Personalstruktur und den Karriereverläufen von Professoren und Professorinnen an betriebswirtschaftlichen Fakultäten. Auf Basis einer Internetrecherche von Alters- und Karrieremerkmalen beschreibt der Beitrag Qualifizierungsverläufe, Kohortenzusammensetzungen und den Personalaustausch zwischen den einzelnen Hochschulen. Zudem werden die Daten netzwerktheoretisch ausgewertet, um die akademische Mobilität von BWL-Professoren zu analysieren. Die Studie ergänzt bestehende Makro-Analysen zur Situation der Nachwuchswissenschaftler in der Betriebswirtschaft mit organisationsbezogenen Daten

Determinants of CEO Age at Succession

Based on Brickley’s (2003) call for research on the CEO/turnover relation, we examine determinants of CEO age at succession. Utilizing the similarity–attraction paradigm, we propose that board members will select new CEOs that are similar to their own age. We find a strong positive relation between successor CEO age and average board member age. Thus, the similarity–attraction paradigm seems to play a role in board of director selection of CEO successors. However, we also propose that poor prior performance may mitigate similarity–attraction. Our results are also consistent with this hypothesis because we find no relation between successor CEO and board age following poor prior performance. Finally, the hiring of an age-similar CEO does not reduce the companies’ subsequent financial performance and may even have a slightly positive impact on it. Copyright Springer 2006