The opening of the black box

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to open up the black boxed TMT process by examining the interaction between TMT members using cognitive and demographic diversity variables, and to see how organisational performance could be affected by the process. By opening the process, a model of the process was developed, which can be tested in further research. The major findings are that there are some aspects that stand out; the CEO and the functional responsibilities that influence the process. Further, the integration within the TMT is not that high, so the upper echelon theory should not be used without considerations on studies where composition is related to organisational performance. These have shown to influence performance in different ways. The functional responsibility has shown to create subgroups that practice problem solving and decision making more frequent than the TMT hence also communicate more.