This research examines the relationship between narcissistic personality characteristics in Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and firms' innovation outcomes. The authors argue that firms led by narcissistic CEOs are likely to exhibit a higher rate of new product introductions and a greater proportion of radical innovations in their new product portfolios, but they are also more likely to encounter product-harm crises. The impact of CEO narcissism on these innovation outcomes is partially mediated by firms' higher competitive aggressiveness. High power of the marketing department in the top management team, however, increases firms' customer orientation, which in turn weakens the relationship between CEO narcissism and product-harm crises. A longitudinal analysis of a sample of 395 publicly listed U.S. firms in the period 2006-2010 provides considerable support for the authors' hypotheses. This research underscores the importance of studying CEOs' personality traits as antecedents of firms' innovation outcomes, highlights the positive and negative impact of CEO narcissism on firms' innovation-related behavior, and delineates the process through which this impact takes place.
This research examines the influence of CEOs' political ideologies, specifically their degree of political liberalism (i.e., support for the Democratic Party relative to the Republican Party), on firms' innovation propensity (i.e., rate of new product introductions).The authors propose that CEOs' degree of political liberalism positively impacts their firms' rate of new product introductions (NPIs). This impact is weakened, however, when CEOs have low power, when a high proportion of their compensation comes from equity, when the marketing department has high influence in the top management team, and when the economy is growing. Liberal CEOs' greater rate of NPIs is associated with superior Tobin's q, but also higher stock return volatility. Findings based on observing 421 publicly listed U.S. firms between 2006-2010 provide considerable support for the authors' hypotheses. The authors also examine changes in firms' rate of NPIs and performance around CEO turnovers and find corroborating evidence for their thesis. These results highlight the role of executives' personal values in shaping firms' innovation strategy, and the risks and rewards associated with aggressive new product introductions. (2015), "Top management conservatism and corporate risk strategies: Evidence from managers' personal political orientation and corporate tax avoidance," You get what you pay for: The effect of top executives' compensation on advertising and R&D spending decisions and stock market return,"
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