Implication du pouvoir du dirigeant et des caractéristiques managériales sur la performance des entreprises tunisiennes cotées

The aim objective of this paper is to identify the impact of CEO power and the managerial characteristics on the performance of listed firms. This paper specifies the managerial characteristics as a set of demographic personal and professional aspects with reference to the principles of the upper echelons theory. The CEO power that is structural in nature is measured by the combination of three titles held by the CEO in particular the chairman, the founder or a founding member of the firm and the only internal member in the board of directors. Our empirical study is based on a sample of 39 Tunisian’s listed firms over the period from 2000 to 2007. The results reveal that the manager holding a structural power plays a passive role in the Tunisian firms. We show that the dual functions and the presence of the CEO as the only internal in boards have a negative effect on the performance of Tunisian firms and they manipulate easily their boards. Contrary, the CEO tenure who reflects expertise power strengthens the level of firm’s performance.