Marwan Altarawneh, Rohami Shafie, Rokiah Ishak
This paper reviews existing literature related to the different facets of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) that may add value to firms. The focus of this paper is on CEO characteristics as the CEO position is very crucial in the management hierarchy, CEOs become part of the important factor that enhances the firms’ performances as well as financial reporting quality, and their characteristics are claimed to play essential roles in the firms. Many firms have excelled in business as a result of their CEO’s characteristics. However, prior studies have manifested mixed and inconclusive results as well as several gaps in the literature have also been identified due to the inconsistent results of previous studies. In addition, previous research highlights the individual CEO’s characteristics that impact the firm’s performance and also the quality of financial reporting and provides an impetus for conducting more studies in related areas. This paper provides a better understanding of the roles of CEO characteristics and future directions for research. In addition, this paper recommends to the regulators about the CEOs characteristics that affect firm performance and financial reporting quality. Finally, the paper suggests that firms should focus on these characteristics in enhancing their performances and financial reporting quality.