Norburn's Match of Company Directors to GOGOs, YOYOs and DODOs

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Norburn's Match of Company Directors to GOGOs, YOYOs and DODOs

In an article Norburn (1986) tries to categorize directors of Britain’s largest companies and to find a connection with the economic performance of the industries their companies operate in:
- GOGO’s – industries in growth,
- YOYO’s – industries in turbulence, or
- DODO’s – industries in decline.
In other words, he tries to find which managerial characteristics are of great importance to a company in a different stage of its development, arguing that executive’s traits are of great importance to a firm’s performance (Norburn, 1986).

In general, 3 major aspects are connected to the topic of leadership according to behavior research:

• TRAITS: What qualifies a “natural leader”: strong responsibility, risk-taking, originality, drive, self-confidence, ability to absorb stress, patience, and capacity to structure social interaction systems (Stogdill, 1974); need for advancement, creativity, and primacy of the workplace (Bray, Campbell and Grant, 1974); need for achievement and power (Donley and Winter, 1970), etc.
• BEHAVIORAL STYLE: One of the most famous leadership styles categorization is that of R. Likert (1967.
• SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS: For example economic conditions: they could predicate both traits and leadership style

Norburn (1986) categorizes three groups of factors that can influence or shape a top executive manager:

• ECONOMIC ENVIRON: Job-centered, ‘hygiene’ factors, international exposure.
• DOMESTIC ENVIRON: Family influences, locational upbringing, cerebral and physical education.
• SELF-CONCEPT: Company and occupational views, personal beliefs and habits.

Based on these factors and the industry’s performance he obtains the following results after multiple case studies:

Variable	GOGOs	YOYOs	DODOs
Company
1. Why change companies	Challenge	Challenge	More money
2. Fastest route to the top	Finance	Marketing	Finance
3. Remuneration	Above average	Average	Below average
4. Workload increase	Substantially	Significantly	Not significantly
5. Company tenure	Short	Mobile	Inert
6. Patronage perception	No	-	Yes
7. International exposure	High	Low	Low
Family
8. Childhood location	London and international	Scotland	Northern England
9. Team vs. individual sports	Team	-	Individual
Self-concept
10. Executive success traits	Conceptual and creative	Concern for people	Integrity
11. First boss influence	Low	Low	High
12. Early retirement	Early	Very early	Later
13. Same career again	Same	Similar	Different
14. Age	Younger	All ages	Older

Sources:
Norburn, D. (1986) “GOGOs, YOYOs AND DODOs: Company Directors and Industry Performance”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 101-117
Stogdill, R. M. (1974) “Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research”, Free Press, New York
Bray, D. W., R. J. Campbell, and D. L. Grant. (1974) “Formative years in business: a long term AT&T study of managerial lives”, Wiley, New York
Donley, R. E. and D. G. Winter (1970) “'Measuring the motives of public officials at a distance: an exploratory study of American presidents”, Behavioral Science, 15, pp. 227-236.
Likert, R. (1967) “The human organization: Its management and value”, New York: McGraw-Hill