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The recent significant occurrences of dysfunctional, and perhaps unethical, decision making and actions by a number of highly successful corporate executives suggest that there are systematic explanations for the questionable managerial behaviors that go beyond simple attributions of individual character flaws. This paper draws from four management research streams to identify some enabling conditions that constitute plausible mechanisms that may have exacerbated the present situation. Research traditions include the literature pertaining to the primacy of the rights of shareholders in equity capital financed corporate organizations, the literature describing the mechanisms whereby charisma is socially constructed and institutionalized, the literature attributing the gravitation toward positions of power on the part of individuals with predispositions to act in an unethical manner and the literature describing conditions which limit the ability of principals to fully specify the provisions of contracts with agents who are in positions of control of corporate organizations.

The current study integrates self-enhancement and social exchange theories to construct hypotheses in which team-level narcissism is expected to negatively influence team-level task performance ratings and team-level organizational citizenship behaviors directed at team members (OCB-Is). Additionally, individual-level narcissism is expected to negatively influence peer performance ratings. Based on longitudinal data collected from 89 study participants constituting 29 project teams, results indicate (a) team-level narcissism influences task performance, (b) team-level narcissism influences changes in OCB-Is over time, and (c) individual-level narcissism influences peer performance ratings. Our findings suggest the necessity for practitioners to consider individual differences in the strategic formation of work groups.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how CEO narcissism can be related to the usage of an abnormal optimistic tone in financial disclosures. Drawing on upper echelons theory, this paper suggests a link between CEO characteristics, such as narcissism, and accounting choices, such as optimistic financial reporting language.

To measure the narcissistic trait of a CEO, the study builds on a model using a set of 15 archival indicators. The usage of an abnormal optimistic tone is assessed quantitatively when looking at firms’ 10-K filings, where “abnormal” refers to tone that is unrelated to a firm’s performance, risk, and complexity. This approach allows for the use of firm-fixed effects for a sample of US listed firms over the period 1992-2012.

The results show that CEO narcissism is significantly positively related to abnormal optimistic tone in 10-K filings. If a highly abnormal optimistic tone is present, the level of CEO narcissism is positively related to the likelihood of future seasoned equity offerings and larger future investments in research and development.

The findings are relevant for shareholders and stakeholders as well as auditors and legislators. All stakeholders should be aware of the overly optimistic reporting language resulting from CEO narcissism and need to make allowances for it when assessing firm performance based on financial disclosures.

This study is the first to show in a large-scale sample how CEO narcissism can be related to a firm’s use of optimistic language, and thus contributes to the question of how personality traits affect an organization’s financial reporting strategy.

Although there have been considerable amounts of research documenting the effects of narcissism on workplace outcomes, studies of the impact of narcissism on job performance have produced inconclusive results. This study aims to provide insight into this issue by using a new model of narcissism, the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept model to explore the processes by which narcissism can impact job performance.

Two studies (Study 1 with 1,176 employees and 217 managers cross-sectional data; Study 2 with 209 employees and 39 managers time-lagged data) were conducted and multilevel technique was used to test the research model.

Narcissistic rivalry is associated with higher levels of family–work conflict (FWC) and that these effects are magnified when narcissists also have competing demands in the form of expectations to conform to traditional values. Furthermore, this study documents that higher levels of FWC are associated with greater emotional exhaustion and lower job performance. However, narcissistic admiration only has direct effect on job performance.

This paper not only suggests that narcissism is a previously untested dispositional antecedent for FWC, but it also uses a facet-based approach to examine when and how narcissism impacts job performance.

Utilizing a self-regulatory perspective, the authors examine how narcissism influences perceived negative inequity and the downstream effects on self-enhancement motivation and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) over time.

A total of 689 useable three-wave panel data were obtained via Amazon Mechanical Turk during a three-month period. A latent growth curve modeling approach using EQS 6.4 for Windows was employed to test the hypothesized model.

Results illustrate that individuals with higher levels of narcissism perceive higher levels of perceived negative inequity and then form higher levels of self-enhancement motivation, which prompt more OCB directed toward the organization (OCBO) than OCB directed toward individuals (OCBI). When perceived negative inequity increases over time, narcissists experience a faster increase in self-enhancement motivation, which also leads to a faster increase in OCBO compared to the increase in OCBI.

Theoretically, this study provides theoretical and empirical insights into understanding the process through which narcissists' OCBs are motivated. Practically, this study offers several practical recommendations that help managers manage OCBs effectively in the organization.

This study examines the relationship between strategic entrepreneurial behaviors (SEBs) and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging market context. The authors expand upon prior work in this area by building and testing a model that assesses the moderating effect of CEOs’ narcissism and Machiavellianism on the relationship between SEBs and SME performance.

To test the authors’ theoretical model, the authors use the results of a larger data collection project in Russia to create a national random sample of 372 Russian SMEs that were approached between August and November 2019.

The authors found support for the positive relationship between SEBs and SME performance. Additionally, the authors found that CEO narcissism and Machiavellianism strengthen the relationship between SEBs and firm performance.

This study is an important step toward enriching the understanding of the role of CEO personality traits in shaping the efficiency of entrepreneurial behavior at the firm level. Extending previous research, the authors show that SEBs have a positive effect on firm performance in an emerging market context. Additionally, the authors contribute insight about how personality characteristics of CEOs, specifically narcissism and Machiavellianism, influence the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and firm performance. Finally, the authors’ research contributes to the development of strategic leadership theory: the results offer insight to scholars regarding the potentially beneficial attributes of otherwise “dark” leaders.

Drawing on an equity theory framework, the purpose of this paper is to examine the degree to which dispositional correlates – Machiavellianism and Protestant work ethic (PWE) – predict perceived work entitlement in employed persons.

In two independent samples (n=270 and n=214), currently employed participants completed self-report surveys. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess common method variance and provide evidence of construct validity.

In Study 1, a general measure of Machiavellianism was positively related to perceived work entitlement, but PWE was not significantly related to the criterion. In Study 2, three sub-scales of Machiavellianism, as well as a different measure of the PWE, were positively related to perceived work entitlement. However, the fourth sub-scale of Machiavellianism was negatively related and therefore in the opposite direction of that which was hypothesized.

The primary limitations of the research are the cross-sectional research design and minor risk of common method bias. However, numerous a priori and post hoc procedures were incorporated in an attempt to minimize this risk.

Managers need to understand how certain dispositional factors influence the degree to which employees perceive that they are entitled to rewards that at times are inconsistent with their contribution to the organization.

As the workforce ages and older employees are replaced, understanding the dispositional influences on perceived work entitlement helps explain why some, often times younger, workers feel more entitled to organizational rewards than do others.

This paper is one of the first to examine relevant dispositional correlates of perceived work entitlement, which is a construct developed from equity theory.

This paper aims to analyse the effects of organizational narcissism on four knowledge-sharing aspects among academics: publications, personal interactions, organizational communication and network interaction.

This research uses a sample of 288 research groups from public and private universities in Colombia. The study used structural equations by the partial least squares method (PLS).

The results indicate that organizational narcissism has a positive and significant influence on the four knowledge-sharing aspects analysed. The greatest effect of organizational narcissism is generated in organizational communication, followed by personal interactions, network interaction and publications.

This work contributes to developing the emerging theoretical perspective which gives greater attention to the analysis of organizational behaviours considered strategic given their potential to dynamize knowledge sharing as opposed to focusing on how publications are affected by fragments or specific aspects of organizational culture. The findings show organizational narcissism is one of such strategic behaviours. Moreover, the study sheds light on the controversy between positions for and against organizational narcissism, and the results contradict previous studies that highlight the negative repercussions of this organizational behaviour on publications. In addition, our work provides a perspective that allows for a broader view in evaluating the actual extent of the impact of organizational narcissism, which is not exclusively limited to the publication dimension. In this way, the research horizons of organizational narcissism are also expanded, as regrettably it was long seen as a phenomenon that occurred almost exclusively in the business context.

The paper seeks to examine the problem of destructive narcissism as an aspect of the emotional dimension of educational administration. Positions of power and influence provide motive and opportunity for the damaging character of this personality disorder to negatively affect the work life of colleagues and sabotage organizational effectiveness, ranging in degree from mild annoyance to extreme disabling.

The paper presents a model of narcissism composed of the typical profile and organisational expression in educational settings, drawing on narcissism theory. This includes the narcissist's illegitimate sense of entitlement, inappropriate need for admiration and attention, lack of empathy, and projection of negative traits onto others that affect the politics and culture of schools and universities, including social interaction and work styles, that produces an objectified use of people.

Four aspects of graduate professional programs are examined for the effects of destructive narcissistic pattern – student recruitment, curriculum, narcissistic professors, and research activities – and strategies recommended for dealing with this problem.

The problem of narcissism in educational administration and leadership professional programmes is not addressed in the field.

This paper aims to examine two underexplored topics in organizations, i.e. vulnerable narcissists in organizational settings and possible effects of territorial infringements among vulnerable narcissistic employees. The movie, Office Space, illustrates prototypical employee behavior mixed with comedically maladaptive personalities in a modern organizational context. However, the arson committed by character, Milton Waddams, suggests that some employees, especially those with disordered personalities, might violently respond to perceived territorial infringements.

This conceptual paper combines personality factors with territorial behavior to examine employee reactions to perceived injustices. Theoretical and practical implications are offered, as well as future research directions.

The argument presented suggests that the vulnerable narcissists may initiate destructive behavior in organizations with ego threats like territorial infringements. While anger is a natural defensive reaction, vulnerable narcissists are more likely to behave aggressively toward perceived territorial infringements due to their general negative affect.

Employees may react to infringement over seemingly subjective things; thus, managers must understand the nature of ownership by addressing territorial claims. Managers must remain cognizant that some disordered personalities are prone toward fulfilling threats, including organizational sabotage, deviance and white-collar crime. Environmental conditions can also compound the negative behavior of personalities like vulnerable narcissists in the workplace.

This conceptual paper adds to the organizational behavior literature and contributes to the fields of psychology and territoriality by exploring vulnerable narcissists in organizational settings and by considering the magnitude of defensive behavior toward perceived infringements.