Fragmentation and the other Problems CEOs Have with Their Top Management Teams

Deficiencies within a top management team (TMT) can gravely impair a firm9s performance and vitality. Based on interviews with 23 CEOs of major companies in the United States and Europe, this article identifies the five major problems CEOs have with their TMTs: inadequate capabilities of a single executive, a common team-wide shortcoming, harmful internal rivalries, groupthink, and fragmentation. Fragmentation, the most critical problem, is the case of the team that is not a team at all, but rather a mere constellation of senior executives pursuing their own agendas, with a minimum of collaboration or exchange. Fragmentation often stems from success, and a fragmented team may operate adequately under conditions of stability. But, in the face of a major environmental shift affecting the whole firm, the fragmented team is slow, arts in a piecemeal fashion, and is generally maladaptive. The article offers suggestions for overcoming the problem of TMT fragmentation.