The Changing C-Suite

Book excerpt: "This book is about changing corporate power structures. We examine the evolving ways in which power at the apex of complex organizations is structured through roles and relationships in anticipation of and in response to diverse contingencies and interests. Our focus is the changing C-suite, a term denoting the most important senior executives in an organization, characterized by the proliferation of and variation in new Chief X Officer (CXO) roles, where 'X' stands for a specific domain, such as sustainability, communication, digital, human resources, finance, etc. By exploring the emergence and evolution of these CXO roles, we seek to understand these elites' new command posts, sources of expertise and identity, competition and collaboration, and ways of getting things done-what we call their 'style'-thereby extending the political perspective of organizations, which has largely overlooked the changing structure and dynamics underlying executive power and actions. It is in moments of structural transformation, such as the ongoing incorporation of a plethora of new CXO roles on executive committees, that the political model of organizations is better revealed and assessed. The book develops a theoretical account, combined with a rich empirical illustration, of the C-suite's transformation over the last two decades: its magnitude and meaning, its co-construction by different interests, and its potential significance for corporate control. As C-suite incumbents have more leeway to construct their roles than managers at any other organizational layer, special attention is placed on their social and political action styles"--