This study examined the orientations of 125 executive officers and boa
rd members from seven financial institutions concerning the compositio
n of their firm's sociometrically-defined dominant coalitions. Hypothe
ses testing found that in seven small banks, dominant coalition member
s could be distinguished from nonmembers by their orientation toward i
nternal organizational factors. In contrast to prior research, the stu
dy found no evidence of a significant relationship between board membe
rs' tenure, relative to that of the CEO, and their membership in the o
rganization's dominant coalition.