"Optimizing CEO Selection in Saudi Arabia: A Study on Strategies for Identifying and Recruiting Top-Performing Chief Executive Officers (CEO)"
Eng. Waleed Akhtar M Sultan

Abstract
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the most influential member of the top management team because there is always a link between the organization's success and the top managers who oversee these organizations. CEO makes strategic decisions based on his or her own interpretation, which is shaped by his or her demographic and managerial characteristics. Most of CEO-based research focused only on a particular set of characteristics. Accordingly, little is known, and open questions remain about the most important CEO characteristics and which characteristics are more important for Saudi Arabia organizations. In response to this knowledgeable gap, this paper aims to provide a prioritized list of the most influential CEO characteristics that matter to organizations in the Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from 89 participants including owners, directors, managers, and CEOs who work in various Saudi Arabia organizations. The participants were asked to rate 35 CEO characteristics, using a five-point Likert scale, where scores were coded from 1 that represents not important at all to 5 that represents Very Important. The data shows a substantial degree of variations in CEO candidate evaluations and reflect the importance of hiring a CEO with overall qualities. The three characteristics with the highest means and lowest standard deviations are Experience, followed by Intellectual characteristics and Personal characteristics, suggesting that candidates considered for CEO positions are perceived to have longer years of work experience, higher intellectual and stronger personal characteristics. The least important characteristics of CEO in Saudi Arabia are tenure, political connectedness and age. These findings will be helpful to shareholders in making an informed decision in selecting the perfect CEO to manage the organization.

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