Abstract:

Purpose: Although many studies have generated a wealth of insights about how executives' characteristics are manifested in organizational outcomes, almost no attention has been devoted to one of the most vivid qualities seen in some CEOs, “high levels of narcissism”, particularly in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and how an outside board of directors affects the CEO's value system and personality traits and a firm's involvement in CSR. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a sample of publicly traded United Kingdom foods and drink firms. We gathered a total of 187 firm for a 12-year period (2001–2012). Findings: The study suggests that there is a positive relationship between CEO narcissism and stakeholder management, and its impact on social issue participation is significantly negative. This study also shows the moderating effect of outside board of directors on those relationships. Originality: This study extended understanding of the motivations for CSR. We integrate upper echelon theory and the attention-based view to investigate how CEO narcissism influences firms’ CSR initiatives. Although the upper echelon theory states that managerial psychological characteristics significantly can influence firm strategic choices, such a theory is incapable to inform why executives prefer one strategic initiative over another. This study found that the behavioral aspects of narcissistic and overconfident CEOs in the design of CSR strategy may contribute to broadening the assumption of upper echelon theory in understanding CSR.

Keywords: