Two views from the bridge: how CFOs and SME leaders perceive top team dynamics

The study compares the views of two kinds of UK business leaders of the top teams in which they play a role: 72 CFOs from the UK's largest and most successful companies, and 44 CEOs of Britain's most successful independent companies, all of which are small- to medium-sized. Results suggest that the psychological diversity of these two groups' teams differs, as does their approach to decision-making. Results show that for both groups, modes of decision-making are highly issue dependent, and also that their self-rated effectiveness differs across domains. The large corporate entities of the CFO sample seem to have top team psychological dynamics which favour risk control at the expense of creativity, with a reverse pattern in the more entrepreneurial companies of the CEOs.Business leaders Top teams CEOs CFOs Team dynamics