From the Strategic Management Society via PhysOrg, June
Narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism are ubiquitous among CEOs, despite ample evidence that these dark personality traits pose financial and managerial risks to organizations. Their prevalence on corporate boards—nearly three times the general population—suggests that on some levels anti-social behavior may benefit business management. A new study published in the Strategic Management Journal in May reveals one such instance, finding that companies with Machiavellian CEOs have a net income savings of over 6.6% on firm costs.
"Negotiating important firm costs is a fundamental, often headline-making activity with significant impact on organizations," said Federico Aime, a management professor at Oklahoma State University and one of the study's authors. "Highly Machiavellian personalities consistently excel in situations that are stressful, uncertain, unstructured and have a high degree of face-to-face interaction—all of which are commiserate with the CEO position and high-level negotiations."
The research specifically measures how CEOs higher on the Machiavellian scale (high Machs) perform at negotiating lower production costs, acquisition premiums and debt financing. To determine high Machs, Aime, along with co-authors Tessa Recendes, Aaron D. Hill and Oleg V. Petrenko, aggregated public video of 198 CEOs at S&P 500 firms from 2000 to 2011. Trained psychology professionals then evaluated the videos using an established scale for Machiavellianism....
....MUCH MORE
HT: FT Alphaville
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to polish my mirror.
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