Top management teams (TMTs) consist of 'top managers involved in strategic decision making identified by the CEO' (Amason 1996). Research by Hambrick (1994) has identified a number of characteristics of top management teams, which should be viewed as descriptive generalisations rather than prescriptions for how top teams ought to be:
- TMTs have unspecified goals. Other than to make the organisation perform better, or to raise the share price, there is no definable task for the group alone to accomplish. There is no bounded timeframe for TMTs. Because there is no specific group goal there is also no specific time frame for what they have to achieve.
- The tasks of TMTs are complex. They may involve reacting to environmental events, and there could be many vague and competing stimuli.
- TMTs may meet infrequently as a group, and members can typically devote only part of their time to group activities.
- TMTs tend to emphasise fast and efficient meetings, because of time commitments for all involved. It also means that the group may do little collective work but may simply monitor and assess the work of others.
- TMTs tend to be made up of individualists, who are focused mainly on running their own part of the enterprise. Those who are promoted to senior positions tend to be achievement-oriented, they expect autonomy, low supervision and low collaboration.