LEADER CAPABILITIES, SUCCESSION, AND COMPETITIVE CONTEXT - A STUDY OFPROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAMS

Using a sample of major league baseball teams, this study provides evi dence that leader (field manager) ability and experience are positivel y associated with subsequent performance for ongoing field managers. F ollowing a succession event, however, only the ability of the new fiel d manager, as measured by his prior record, is important to subsequent performance. We hypothesize that the level of rivalry will be importa ntly associated with a new field manager's ability to improve subseque nt performance, because it is easier to improve in a low-rivalry conte xt. Contrary to the hypothesis, however, our analysis indicates that t he abilities of the new field manager are even more important when the team is competing in a high-rivalry context, and tend to matter littl e in a low-rivalry context.