(May 3 – 14:40 ET) – Chief executive offciers have between 14 and 18 months to make a difference at a public company before they are out-the-door, according to research conducted by public relations firm Langdon Starr Ketchum.

“Based on these findings and our own experience, we believe it is essential for a new CEO to ommunicate to the financial community and other externalaudiences such as customers and partners that they have a clear plan for value creation within the first six months of assuming the post,” Tom Niles, VP Corporate Practice for Langdon Starr Ketchum in Toronto said.

Ketchum ran two separate U.S. studies, the first, a statistically significant survey of 1,000 individual investors and a second more qualitative survey of 25 Wall Street analysts and U.S. portfolio managers.
Key findings indicate that the typical individual investor will give a CEO just under a year and a half to make a difference. Wall Street professionals will give a CEO only 14 months to demonstrate results; and both investors and analysts said today’s timeframe is shorter than only a decade ago.

Ketchum’s Reputation Laboratory demonstrates that management quality is the prime driver of corporate reputation, weighted more heavily than even product quality or charitable giving. Ketchum’s research showed that roughly a third of those asked feel that CEOs are not worth the compensation they receive in cash and options. About three-quarters think that CEOs do not deserve the “golden parachutes” they receive in severance payment. And approximately three-quarters believe it is better to appoint an outsider than an insider as a CEO of a troubled company.
-IE Staff