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Abstract
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have an increasing effect on firm performance and research continues to show that their personalities are an important determinant of firm strategy. In particular, a CEOs core self-evaluationthat is, his or her enduring self-conceptmay be uniquely influential. This self-evaluation may influence a CEOs initial strategies and how much they change their strategy in response to multiple sources of feedback. The goal of this dissertation is to help answer the following question: across multiple sequential decisions, how do individualsin light of their specific characteristicsinterpret multiple types of varying feedback to make resource allocation decisions? This study uses a new experimental business simulation software to explore the relationship between core self-evaluation and executives strategic decisions over time. This dissertation improves our ability to test new theories by reviewing and demonstrating best practices for strategic management experiments. Further, it demonstrates how experiments can be used to develop new theories and better educate students. In total, this dissertation moves the field closer to breaking into the black box of strategic management by offering new insight into the way executives make decisions in various contexts.