New study measures narcissistic CEOs' effect on corporate strategy, performance
July 18, 2007Companies led by more narcissistic chief executives tend to make more frequent strategy changes, undertake larger and more frequent acquisitions, and have more extreme and irregular fluctuations in performance, according to new research from Penn State's Smeal College of Business.
Arijit Chatterjee, graduate lecturer, and Donald Hambrick, Smeal chaired professor of management, gauged the level of narcissism exhibited by 111 CEOs of computer software and hardware companies and compared it to the subsequent strategies and performance of their companies.
"Highly narcissistic CEOs -- defined as those who have very inflated self-views, and who are preoccupied with having those self-views continuously reinforced -- can be expected to engage in behaviors and make decisions that have major consequences not only for the individuals who interact directly with them, but also for broader sets of stakeholders," the researchers wrote.
They used five indicators to measure CEO narcissism: the prominence of the CEO's photograph in the company's annual report, the frequency of the CEO's name appearing in company news releases, the use of first person singular pronouns (I, me, mine, my and myself) by the CEO in interviews, and the CEO's cash and non-cash pay compared to the company's second-highest executive.
Using these measurements, Chatterjee and Hambrick developed an index, ranking the CEOs according to their levels of narcissism.
They then compared the CEOs' narcissism levels to their companies' strategic dynamism, acquisitions, and performance extremeness and fluctuation. Their results show that CEO narcissism is related to all four measures.
The data show that narcissistic CEOs tend to lead companies through more changes in strategic resource allocation and their companies experience higher highs and lower lows in organizational performance.
"While less narcissistic CEOs may be inclined to pursue incrementalist strategies that entail refining and elaborating on the status quo, more narcissistic CEOs gravitate to bold and highly visible choices," they wrote. "Thus, narcissism may be thought of as an ingredient that stimulates distinctive, extreme managerial actions."
Their research indicates no relation between executive narcissism and how well a company performs. "Although narcissists tend to generate more extreme and irregular performance than non-narcissists, they do not generate systematically a better or worse performance," they found.
"It's All About Me: Narcissistic CEOs and Their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance" is forthcoming in Administrative Science Quarterly.
Source: Penn State
-
Narcissists look like good leaders -- but they aren't
Aug 10, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (9) |
0
-
Narcissistic students don't mind cheating their way to the top
Nov 30, 2010 |
not rated yet |
1
-
The unhealthy ego: What can neuroscience tell us about our 'self'?
Oct 28, 2010 |
5 / 5 (3) |
2
-
Shifting blame is socially contagious
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (9) |
3
-
Researcher: Narcissistic bosses destroy morale, drive down bottom line
Aug 07, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
2
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Bohr-Einstein debate: why did Bohr not simply say...
Feb 06, 2012
-
Best/Worst U.S. Presidents
Jan 31, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - History & Humanities
More news stories
Australian women reject 'I love u' texts
Australian women may have embraced the digital era, but they prefer a face-to-face declaration of affection to an "I love u" text and find men addicted to their mobile phones a major turnoff.
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions
Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services from hamburgers to cable TV costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
Feb 09, 2012 |
3 / 5 (5) |
11
Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'
A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
Feb 10, 2012 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
10
New insights into how to correct false knowledge
The abundance of false information available on the Internet, in movies and on TV has created a big challenge for educators.
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
9
|
Rapunzel, Leonardo and the physics of the ponytail
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research provides the first mathematical understanding of the shape of a ponytail and could have implications for the textile industry, computer animation and personal care products.
Cognitive impairment in older adults often unrecognized in the primary care setting
A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reveals that brief cognitive screenings combined with offering further evaluation increased new diagnoses of cognitive impairment in older veterans two to ...
AT&T customers surprised by 'unlimited data' limit
(AP) -- Mike Trang likes to use his iPhone 4 as a GPS device, helping him get around in his job. Now and then, his younger cousins get ahold of it, and play some YouTube videos and games.
Climate change causes harmful algal blooms in North Atlantic: study
Warming oceans and increases in windiness could be causing of an abundance of harmful algal blooms in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, according to new research.
Hacker claims porn site users compromised
A hacker claims to have compromised the personal information of more than 350,000 users after breaking into a disused website operated by pornography provider Brazzers.
Primary care program helps obese teen girls manage weight, improve body image and behavior
Teenage girls gained less weight, improved their body image, ate less fast food, and had more family meals after participating in a 6- month program that involved weekly peer meetings, consultations with primary care providers ...
Aug 09, 2009
Rank: not rated yet