A Change in Company Men

There are fewer “company men”–fewer men, literally, and fewer who have been with the company their entire working lives–among CEOs these days than 20 years ago, says a Wharton study. And they are less blue bloody and Ivy League educated.

A few important findings for CIOs: Finance is now by far the most preferred route to the CEO’s office, given the overwhelming influence of investment analysts; and CEOs tend less to develop a company strategy than embody it. “Management jobs today are really very much about projects,” says study author Peter Cappelli on Wharton’s website. “They are hiring CEOs and executives to do certain things–not to fill a job but to do X or Y. They are hiring them as a substitute for doing strategy. And the person that they are looking for becomes the strategy.”

All of this probably means more upheaval for CIOs and more direct reporting relationships with finance over time.