DPE Courses Archive
DPE Course Programme Archive 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2025 Mathematics for Economists Roweno Heijmans (NHH Norwegian School of…
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The Chief Human Resource Officer in the C-suite: Peer Prevalence and Environmental Uncertainty
David Bendig, Kathrin Haubner, Jonathan Hoke, Sabrina Jeworrek
International Journal of Human Resource Management,
Vol. 35 (11),
2024
Abstract
The chief human resource officer (CHRO) role elevates people-related matters to the apex of the firm. Why do some companies’ leading management teams place so much emphasis on human resources while others do not? The present study argues that CHROs’ presence in the C-suite is driven by firms’ imitation of industry peers’ leadership structures as a response to uncertainty. The investigation also sheds light on the moderating role of environmental factors that can influence mimetic isomorphism in HR leadership. Through a longitudinal analysis of large listed firms between 2006 and 2020, the study shows a positive relationship between the prevalence of the CHRO position among firms’ peers and a focal firm having a CHRO in its top management. The results demonstrate that certain types of uncertainty serve as boundary conditions for such copying actions: Industry growth strengthens mimicking behavior while industry dynamism weakens it. There is no clear evidence for the moderating role of industry competition. The findings contribute a neo-institutional view of human resource structures in the top management and strengthen the bond between the strategy and human resource literature.
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Teaching
Teaching Within the framework of its cooperations with both German and foreign universities IWH researchers are actively committed to teaching by offering academic courses. These…
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Department Profiles
Research Profiles of the IWH Departments All doctoral students are allocated to one of the four research departments (Financial Markets – Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets –…
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Alumni IWH provides guidance and support in job placement after graduation, including letters of recommendation and career advice. Graduates have found placements in academia…
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Placement News IWH-DPE graduate placements 2024: St Andrews and the Bank of England Eleonora Sfrappini from the Financial Markets department and Tommaso Bighelli from the…
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Past Events
Past Events 14. CompNet Annual Conference (Vilnius, 25-26 September 2025) The 14th CompNet Annual Conference, co-hosted with the Bank of Lithuania, took place on 25–26 September…
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6th CompNet Annual Conference
Innovation, firm size, productivity and imbalances in the age of de-globalization 6 th CompNet Annual Conference, June 29-30, 2017, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium As the…
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ProdTalks
CompNet ProdTalks CompNet ProdTalks is a monthly recurring 1.5 hour virtual event, two selected papers will be presented including presentation, discussion and Q&A. The top ic…
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11th Annual Conference in Luxembourg
11th Annual Conference in Luxembourg 14.-15. September 2022 in Luxembourg This year CompNet celebrated its 11th Annual Conference, together with EIB and ENRI as co-hosts, which…
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