nder increased pressures to produce growth each year, regardless of what year in a business cycle the organization might find itself. These CEOs were and are aware that they will have their own performances evaluated on the basis of the growth they report. Thus, in spite of all that is written, discussed, and taught about strategic management, American corporations in the contemporary period are primarily creatures of short-term tactics, as opposed to the long-term strategic focus of Alfred Sloan.
The concept of participative management appeared for the first time at the General Motors Corporation before the Second World War, when that firm was under the leadership of Alfred Sloan (Farber 201). The participative management style did not receive substantially wider attention, however, until the 1950s, when Peter Drucker (74) introduced the term management-by-objectives. One characteristic of all forms of participative management is that organizational superiors consult with their subordinates concerning the development of performance objectives that are compatible with organizational goals. Thus, participative management, by its very nature, requires very different leadership styles from those associated with the authoritarian style (Drucker, 81).
Pasternack, Van Nuys, and Perkins (3) identified the second behavior necessary for CEO success as the rapid replacement of subordinate managers who do not actively support a CEO's program. Third, a CEO should prioritize her or his time and adhere to the policy she or he establishes. Fourth, a successful CEO must quickly establish strong relationships with members of the firm's board of directors.
Paul de Benedictis (1), Vice-President at Christian & Timbers, an executive search firm, holds that: "Executives are hired on technical traits and are usually fired because of the wrong combination of human characteristics, or 'soft traits'. The essential elements of these 'soft traits...