ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the relationship between a firm’s ownership and its general management in cases where the chief executive officer remains even through ownership changes. It explores the trend and advances a conceptual approach for management and board of directors in the situations. The chapter also explores a theoretical framework to understand these situations, an underlying business policy model and the relevance of various ownership models. It describes different kinds of firm owners and their influence on top management continuity. The chapter explains three case studies of companies in different countries: Berkshire Hathaway, UFINET Telecom and USP Hospitals. The organizational model of Berkshire Hathaway is based on a simple and straightforward decentralization of all business management responsibilities. The political nature of a firm’s institutional configuration, coupled with its strongly situational-cultural nature, challenges quantitative analysis because statistical averages in the corporate sphere are not as representative as in those related merely to management.