The relationships among organizational performance, environmental uncertainty, and employees' perceptions of CEO charisma

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships among organizational performance, environmental uncertainty and employees' perceptions of CEO charisma. Design/methodology/approach – A mail questionnaire survey was sent to alumni of a French business school working in firms at various hierarchal levels. A sample of 100 French firms was collected. Findings – The results of the study show that CEOs who were perceived by the employees to be energetic leaders have an influence on organizational performance independently of the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty. Research limitations/implications – The majority of the firms in the sample are big. It would be useful to replicate the findings across a sample of firms where small, medium and big are presented proportionally. Also, it would be interesting to study the organizational performance by using objective measures. Practical implications – The research reveals that organizational performance depends on CEO charisma. Firms should take into account the personality of CEOs, especially the trait to be energetic, when recruiting them. Originality/value – The paper displays the impact of different traits of CEO personality, as perceived by employees, on the organizational performance of French firms.