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Psychopathic Leadership A Case Study of a Corporate Psychopath CEO
Citation
Boddy, CR, Psychopathic Leadership A Case Study of a Corporate Psychopath CEO, Journal of Business Ethics, 145, (1) pp. 141-156. ISSN 0167-4544 (2017) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright The Author(s) 2015.
DOI: doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2908-6
Abstract
This longitudinal case study reports on a charity in the UK which gained a new CEO who was reported by two middle managers who worked in the charity, to embody (respectively) all or most of the ten characteristics within a measure of corporate psychopathy. The leadership of this CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score was reported to be so poor that the organisation was described as being one without leadership and as a lost organisation with no direction. This paper outlines the resultant characteristics of the ensuing aimlessness and lack of drive of the organisation involved. Comparisons are made to a previous CEO in the same organisation, who was reportedly an authentic, effective and transformational leader. Outcomes under the CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score were related to bullying, staff withdrawal and turnover as effective employees stayed away from and/or left the organisation. Outcomes also included a marked organisational decline in terms of revenue, employee commitment, creativity and organisational innovativeness. The paper makes a contribution to both leadership and to corporate psychopathy research as it appears to be the first reported study of a CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | corporate psychopaths, leadership, transformational leadership, employee voice, leaderless-ness |
Research Division: | Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services |
Research Group: | Strategy, management and organisational behaviour |
Research Field: | Organisational behaviour |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in commerce, management, tourism and services |
UTAS Author: | Boddy, CR (Professor Clive Boddy) |
ID Code: | 128016 |
Year Published: | 2017 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 25 |
Deposited By: | TSBE |
Deposited On: | 2018-08-28 |
Last Modified: | 2018-09-10 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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