Undercover Boss: Stripping Away the Disguise to Analyze the Financial Performance of Participating Firm

The CBS Television surprise hit “Undercover Boss” has aired for six consecutive seasons and features publicly traded firms, closely-held corporations, and in some instances not-for-profit institutions. While there has been much analysis on the ethical dilemmas faced by the undercover CEO or other executive, no practical analysis of a firm's profitability has been conducted on any of the firms featured on the show. Conventional wisdom would suggest that financial performance of a featured firm would improve after the initial airing date, as the show typically ends on a ‘feel good' note and most often places the executive, as well as the firm, in a positive light. This paper analyzes the stock market price after the initial air date as well revenue and net income for all publicly traded firms that have appears on the show through the end of the sixth season.