Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Business Administration

Committee Chair

Frances Fabian

Committee Member

Robert Wiggins

Committee Member

Barbara Davis

Committee Member

Michael Nalick

Abstract

Upper echelons theory focuses on executives as a source of heterogeneity in firms strategic actions and performance, as executives characteristics (e.g. experience, personality, and values) inform the decision-making process, influencing how executives see, perceive and understand environmental stimuli. In recent years, the degree of narcissism CEOs hold has emerged as an important personality trait that can explain how CEOs influence a variety of firm outcomes. Nevertheless, there is a plethora of equivocal findings in which narcissistic CEOs are associated with contrasting outcomes (e.g., positive and negative firm performance, corporate social responsibility and misconduct). In this three-essay dissertation, I draw from the personality psychology conceptualization of narcissism as a self-regulatory process model to examine the underlying mechanisms of the narcissism trait. In the first essay, I reviewed the literature on CEO narcissism using meta-analytic structural equation modeling to assess the impact of narcissistic CEOs on firm performance in concert with three mechanisms self-assuredness, attention seeking, and top management team characteristics. The findings show that effect of CEO narcissism on firm performance is much smaller than previously thought, and the mechanisms have differential effects on firm performance. In the second essay, I theorize and test contrasting effects of narcissism admiration and narcissism rivalry on firm performance. The results show that while narcissistic CEOs have a positive effect on firm performance by displaying narcissism admiration, they have a negative effect when exhibiting narcissism rivalry. In the third essay, I theorize and test why and when narcissism admiration explains the narcissistic CEOs engagement with corporate sociopolitical activism. The findings indicate that narcissistic CEOs act opportunistically and use corporate sociopolitical activism as an opportunity to draw wider attention to their actions. Altogether, this dissertation advances upper echelons theory by theorizing and showing the importance of examining the processual mechanisms that can untangle and explain complex personality traits such as narcissism. Without such a fine-grained analysis, scholars cannot unveil the true relationship between firm outcomes and narcissistic CEOs.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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