Top

Journal of Business Ethics

Published in:

01-07-2012

Flying Too Close to the Sun? Hubris Among CEOs and How to Prevent it

Authors: Valérie Petit, Helen Bollaert

Published in: Journal of Business Ethics | Issue 3/2012

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Hubris among CEOs is generally considered to be undesirable: researchers in finance and in management have documented its unwelcome effects and the media ascribe many corporate failings to CEO hubris. However, the literature fails to provide a precise definition of CEO hubris and is mostly silent on how to prevent it. We use work on hubris in the fields of mythology, psychology, and ethics to develop a framework defining CEO hubris. Our framework describes a set of beliefs and behaviors, both psycho-pathological and unethical in nature, which characterize the problematic relationship of the hubris-infected CEO towards his or her own self, others and the world at large. We then demonstrate how the development of authentic leadership may contribute to preventing or attenuating hubris by addressing its psycho-pathological nature through the true self and meaningful relationships with others. In addition to its psycho-pathological dimension, CEO hubris also contains an ethical dimension. We therefore propose that the development of the virtue of reverence might contribute to the prevention or attenuation of CEO hubris, because reverence makes the individual aware of his or her place in the world order and membership of the community of humans.

next article Stakeholder: Essentially Contested or Just Confused?

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

We thank Kevin Gibson for pointing out this aspect of the myth of Icarus.

Aeschylus. (1926). Seven against Thebes (Herbert Weir Smyth, Trans., Vol. 1). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Akerlof, G. A., & Shiller, R. J. (2009). Animal spirits: How human psychology drives the economy and why it matters for global capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). DSM IV: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Anscombe, G. E. M. (1958). Modern moral philosophy. Philosophy, 33, 1–24.CrossRef

Aristotle. (2002). Nicomachean ethics (Joe Sachs, Trans.). Newburyport, MA: Focus Philosophical Library, Pullins Press.

Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338.CrossRef

Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development (Vol. 1, pp. 45–103). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Baumeister, R. F. (2004). Self. In A. S. R. Manstead & M. Hewstone (Eds.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of social psychology (pp. 496–501). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Beinart, P. (2010). The Icarus syndrome—A history of American Hubris. New York: HarperCollins.

Bertland, A. (2009). Virtue ethics in business and the capabilities approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 84, 25–32.CrossRef

Cassin, B. (1996). Les paradigmes de l’Antiquité. In H. Arendt (Ed.), Politique et Pensée, colloque. Paris: Petite Bibliothèque Payot.

Chan, A., Hannah, S.T., & W. L. Gardner. (2005). Veritable authentic leadership: Emergence, functioning, and impacts. In W. L. Gardner, B. J. Avolio, & F. O. Walumbwa (Eds.), Authentic leadership theory and practice: Origins, effects and development (pp. 3–43). Oxford: Elsevier Science.

Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D. C. (2007). It’s all about me: Narcissistic CEOs and their effects on company strategy and performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52, 351–386.

Ciulla, J. B. (1995). Leadership ethics: Mapping the territory. The Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(1), 5–24.CrossRef

Ciulla, J. B. (2005). The state of leadership ethics and the work that lies before us. Business Ethics: A European Review, 14(4), 323–335.CrossRef

Ciulla, J. B., Price, T. L., & Murphy, S. E. (2005). The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Cohan, W. D. (2009). House of cards. London: Penguin.

Comte-Sponville, A. (2001). A small treatise on the great virtues: The uses of philosophy in everyday life. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Confucius. (2008). The analects. New York: Oxford University Press.

Conger, J. A. (2005). Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz: How compensation practices are undermining the credibility of executive leaders. In J. B. Ciulla, T. L. Price & S. E. Murphy (Eds.), The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Cycyota, C. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2006). What (not) to expect when surveying executives: A meta-analysis of top manager response rates and techniques over time. Organizational Research Methods, 9, 133–160.CrossRef

Deshmukh, S., Goel, A. M., & M. Howe. (2010). CEO overconfidence and dividend policy. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1496404.

Dobbs, D. (1987). Reckless rationalism and Heroic Reverence in Homer’s Odyssey. The American Political Science Review, 81(2), 491–508.CrossRef

Einarsen, S., Schanke Aasland, M., & Skogstad, A. (2007). Destructive leadership behaviour: A definition and conceptual model. Leadership Quarterly, 18, 207–216.CrossRef

Epictetus. (2003). The discourses (The Handbook, Fragments), Everyman Edition, Edited by Christopher Gill. London: Dent.

Finkelstein, S., Hambrick, D. C., & Canella, A. A., Jr. (2009). Strategic leadership. Theory and research on executives, top management teams and boards. Strategic management series. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Flynn, G. (2008). The virtuous manager: A vision for leadership in business. Journal of Business Ethics, 78, 359–372.CrossRef

Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2005). Authentic leadership theory and practice: Origins, effects and development. Oxford: Elsevier Science.

Glad, B. (2004). Tyrannical leadership. In G. R. Goethals, G. J. Sorenson, & J. M. Burns (Eds.), Encyclopedia of leadership (Vol. 4, pp. 1592–1597). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gladwell, M. (2009, July 29). Cocksure: Banks, battles, and the psychology of overconfidence. The New Yorker.

Graves, R. (1985). Greek myths. London: Book Club Associates.

Hannah, S. T., Lester, P. B., & Vogelgesang, G. R. (2005). Moral leadership: Explicating the moral component of authentic leadership. In W. L. Gardner, B. J. Avolio, & F. O. Walumbwa (Eds.), Authentic leadership theory and practice: Origins, effects and development (pp. 43–82). Oxford: Elsevier Science.

Harter, S. (2002). Authenticity. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 382–394). London: Oxford University Press.

Haubold, B. (2006). Vertiges du miroir. Le narcissisme des dirigeants. Paris: La Découverte.

Hayward, M. L. A., & Hambrick, D. C. (1997). Explaining the premiums paid for large acquisitions: Evidence of CEO hubris. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 103–127.CrossRef

Hirshleifer, D. A., Teoh, S. H., & A. Low. (2010). Are overconfident CEOs better innovators? Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598021.

Homer, (2003). The Odyssey. London: Penguin Classics.

Hume, D. (1967). A treatise of human nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Johnson, J. & Orange, M. (2003). The man who tried to buy the world: Jean-Marie Messier and Vivendi Universal. London: Portfolio.

Kernis, M. H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1–26.CrossRef

Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1994). The leadership mystique. Academy of Management Executive, 8(3), 73–89.CrossRef

Kihlstrom, J. F., Beer, J. S., & Klein, S. B. (2003). Self and identity as memory. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 68–90). New York: Guilford.

Koehn, D. (1998). Virtue ethics, the firm, and moral psychology. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8(3), 497–513.CrossRef

Li, J., & Tang, Y. (2010). CEO hubris and firm risk-taking in China: The moderating role of managerial discretion. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 45–68.CrossRef

Lord, R. G., & Brown, D. J. (2004). Leadership processes and follower self-identity. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. J. (2003). Authentic leadership development. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship (pp. 241–258). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Ma, H., Karri, R., & Chittipeddi, K. (2004). The paradox of managerial tyranny. Business Horizons, 47(4), 33–40.CrossRef

Maccoby, M. (2000). Narcissistic leaders: The incredible pros, the inevitable cons. The Harvard Business Review, January–February.

MacIntyre, A. (1985). After virtue. London: Duckworth.

Malmendier, U., & Tate, G. (2005). CEO overconfidence and corporate investment. Journal of Finance, 60(6), 2661–2700.CrossRef

Malmendier, U., & Tate, G. (2008). Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market’s reaction. Journal of Financial Economics, 89(1), 20–43.CrossRef

Malmendier, U., Tate, G., & Yan, J. (2011). Overconfidence and early-life experiences: The effect of managerial traits on corporate financial policies. Journal of Finance, 66(5), 1687–1733.

Markus, H. R., & Wurf, E. (1987). The dynamic self-concept: A social psychological perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 299–337.CrossRef

Martin, R. F. (1991). Les douze Césars. Paris: Perrin.

Maslow, A. (1968). Motivation and personality (3rd ed.). New York: Harper.

Maslow, A. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Viking.

Mattéi, J.-F. (2009). Le Sens de la Démesure. Editions Sulliver.

Meindl, J. R., Ehrlich, S. B., & Dukerich, J. M. (1985). The romance of leadership. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30, 521–551.

Messier, J.-M. (2000). J6 M.Com. Paris: Le Livre de Poche.

Messier, J-M. (2002a). Jean-Marie Messier, Ennemi du Spéculateur. La Tribune, 7 février 2002.

Messier, J-M. (2002b). Un Vrai Compte de Fées. Libération, 6 mars 2002.

Owen, D., & Davidson, J. (2009). Hubris syndrome: An acquired personality disorder? A study of US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers over the last 100 years. Brain, 132, 1396–1406.CrossRef

Palmer, D. E. (2009). Business leadership: three levels of ethical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 80, 525–536.CrossRef

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pindar. (1972). The Odes of Pindar (Geoffrey S. Conway, Trans.). London: Everyman’s University Library.

Plato, (2009). Protagoras. New York: Oxford Classics.

Price, T. L. (2008). Leadership ethics: An introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ren, J. (2010). A sense of awe: On the differences between Confucian thought and Christianity. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 5(1), 111–133.CrossRef

Roddick, A. (2000). Leader as social advocate: Building the business by building community. Leader to Leader, Summer, 20–25.

Rogers, C. (1963). The actualizing tendency in relation to “motives” and to consciousness. In M. R. Jones (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (Vol. 11, pp. 1–24). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Roll, R. (1986). The hubris hypothesis of corporate takeovers. Journal of Business, 59(2), Part 1, 197–216.

Rosenthal, S. A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 617–633.CrossRef

Rud, A. G., & Garrison, J. (2010). Leading schools with reverence. The Educational Forum, 74(2), 143–157.CrossRef

Samuel, H. (2010, March 26). Company chief on trial for being paid too much, The Daily Telegraph.

Sartre, J. P. (1984). Being and nothingness: A phenomenological essay on ontology (H. E. Barnes, Trans.). New York: Washington Square Press.

Scherer, K. (2001). Le futur des émotions, Université de tous les savoirs, cité par Bevort, A. (2007). Le Paradigme de Protagoras, Socio-logos. Revue de l’association française de sociologie, 2.

Scodel, R. (1982). Hybris in the Second Stasimon of the Oedipus Rex. Classical Philology, 77(3), 214–223.CrossRef

Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1989). Management entrenchment: The case of manager-specific investments. Journal of Financial Economics, 25, 123–139.CrossRef

Solomon, R. (1992). Ethics and excellence: Cooperation and integrity in business. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Solomon, R. C. (2003). Victims of circumstances? A defense of virtue ethics in business. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(1), 43–62.

Tangney, J. P. (2002). Humility. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 411–419). New York: Oxford University Press.

Vernant, J. P. (2006). Myth and thought among the Greeks. Boston: MIT Press.

Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., & Peterson, S. J. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126.CrossRef

Whetstone, T. (2001). How virtue fits within business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 33(2), 101–114.CrossRef

Winnicott, D. W. (Ed.) (1960). Ego distortion in terms of true and false self. In The maturational process and the facilitating environment: Studies in the theory of emotional development (pp. 140–152). New York: International UP Inc., 1965.

Winnington-Ingram, R. P. (1971). The Second Stasimon of the Oedipus Tyrannus. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 91, 119–135.CrossRef

Woodruff, P. (2001). Reverence, renewing a forgotten virtue. New York: Oxford University Press.

Woodruff, P. (2005). The shape of freedom: Democratic leadership in the ancient world. In J. B. Ciulla, T. L. Price, & S. E. Murphy (Eds.), The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics. Northampton: Eldward Elgar Publishing.

Title: Flying Too Close to the Sun? Hubris Among CEOs and How to Prevent it
Authors: Valérie Petit
Helen Bollaert
Publication date: 01-07-2012
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Journal of Business Ethics / Issue 3/2012
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1097-1

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Other articles of this Issue 3/2012

Stakeholder: Essentially Contested or Just Confused?

Some Ethical Implications of Individual Competitiveness

Legal Determinants of External Finance Revisited: The Inverse Relationship Between Investor Protection and Societal Well-Being

CEO Ethical Leadership, Ethical Climate, Climate Strength, and Collective Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Between Corruption and Development: The Political Economy of State Robbery in Nigeria

Work-Related Behavioral Intentions in Macedonia: Coping Strategies, Work Environment, Love of Money, Job Satisfaction, and Demographic Variables

Premium Partner