Under Pressure: How Top Managers Are Affected by Ownership Structures

Abstract: This study investigates how top managers are influenced by ownership structures in the forming of an investment agenda. The research is based on a comparative multiple case study of three competing firms, two private and one public, within a Swedish durable goods industry. The analysis supports previous research on the subject but also identifies other factors with significant effects on managerial decision making. Ownership concentration has been recognized as a factor determining owners' possibilities to convey their expectations of management. Furthermore, the relationship between the owners and management influences the managers ability to make sense of these expectations. Corporate culture and company identification can control who the manager's ultimately feel accountable to. This indicates that there is no direct causal relationship between ownership concentration and investments, which previous research has assumed.