Narcissistic ceos bet on new technologies
An international study claims to have found that self-absorbed ceos drive their companies forward
It is well known that being convinced of one’s own personality is not necessarily an obstacle to one’s career (celebrity or narcissistic personhood). But are narcissists, once they have found their way in the boardrooms of this world, also in a special way suitable for a career?, "discontinuous innovation" and are actually a step ahead of their time?
Caravaggio: narcissist. Image: the york project/GNU FDL
The possibility exists, says a study by friedrich-alexander-universitat erlangen-nurnberg, conducted with the international institute for management development in lausanne and pennsylvania state university. The details will be published in administrative science quarterly in june.
According to the pre-publication, the behavior of traditional pharmaceutical companies in the field of biotechnology between 1980 and 2008 was examined. The personality of the CEO thus had a decisive influence on investments in a discontinuous technology that was not marketable at the time of introduction. The researchers use the introduction of pcs, online news, e-books, and low-cost airlines as illustrative models for comparing such innovations.
We found that the more narcissistic the CEO, the more likely a company is to invest in discontinuous technologies. Pharmaceutical companies led by particularly narcissistic ceos were more than twice as likely to undertake biotech initiatives through acquisitions, alliances or internal research projects than those led by less narcissistic ceos.
Andreas konig, friedrich-alexander-university erlangen-nurnberg
But how can you even tell if a CEO is prone to self-indulgence or is just the first servant of a found power mechanism? A survey using questionnaires was not promising, the researchers explained, for obvious reasons, and therefore relied on an evaluation model enriched with indicators – "for example, the prominence of a CEO’s photo in the annual report or the relative frequency of mentions of his name in the press releases of the company in question".
According to the researchers, the CEO narcissist is characterized, among other things, by an increased self-confidence, a striving for dominance, and a desire to be a leader "and a certain restlessness and impatience from". This is nothing really new, but the conclusions of the study go a long way. Because the narcissistic ceos are supposed to feel additionally spurred on by the observation of the media.
Narcissistic ceos seem to have a rough track for spotlights. When the opportunity for this is particularly high – for example, in times when the press writes a lot about a technology and describes it as salutary, but at the same time as risky – narcissistic ceos are even more likely to invest in such discontinuities than they already do.
Andreas konig, friedrich-alexander university erlangen-nurnberg
The influence of the public on entrepreneurial innovation is one of the most important insights that the study contributes to organizational research, it continues. Now, however, it is also a matter of revealing the dark side of the self-absorbed, "such as their lack of critical faculties and empathy", a little brighter. The unbiased observer would probably also like to know how often the implied risk decisions plunged a company into the abyss and what the qualities of the narcissists are in the areas of employee leadership, communication and corporate culture.
