Albrecht Enders

CEO Narcissism, Audience Engagement, and Organizational Adoption of Technological Discontinuities

We examine the responses of major pharmaceutical firms to the advent of biotechnology over the period 1980 to 2008 to explain why established firms vary in their adoption of technological discontinuities. Combining insights from upper echelons theory, personality theory, and research on organizational responses to new technologies, we posit that narcissistic chief executive officers (CEOs) of established firms will be relatively aggressive in their adoption of technological discontinuities. We propose, however, that the effect of a CEO’s narcissism on organizational outcomes will be moderated by audience engagement—the degree to which observers view a phenomenon as noteworthy and provocative—which varies over time. When audience engagement is high, narcissistic CEOs will anticipate widespread admiration for their bold actions and thus will invest especially aggressively in a discontinuous technology. Drawing from work on managerial cognition, we further hypothesize that CEOs’ narcissism will influence their top managers’ attention to a discontinuous technology, an association that will also be moderated by audience engagement. Finally, we suggest that managerial attention to the discontinuous technology will subsequently be reflected in company investments in the new technological domain. Results provide considerable support for our hypotheses and highlight the role of narcissism in the context of radical organizational change, the influence of audience engagement on executive behavior, and the effect of executive personality on managerial attention.

Towards an integrated perspective of strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual tool that would help managers to integrate the findings from strategy frameworks such as the value chain, the five forces or the VRIO framework by jointly analyzing the different levers of competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach – Building on the extant literature the paper develops a strategy framework that integrates the internal and external dimensions of strategy formulation. To illustrate a practical application of the value‐process framework, the paper presents a case study of a project at the German music corporation Sony BMG.Findings – The value‐process framework serves managers as a conceptually unifying analysis tool that contributes to their understanding of the main levers that help to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The framework can be used to visually integrate isolated strategy frameworks by jointly analyzing the different levers of competitive advantage, and to develop consistent and integrated strategies...

Silver Bullet or Ricochet? CEO Metaphorical Communication Behavior and Analysts’ Evaluations

We investigate how analysts’ perceptions and evaluations of a firm are influenced by CEOs’ rhetorical personality . In particular, we shed light on analysts’ perceptions of CEOs’ metaphorical commu...

How Can Music Majors Increase Their Success in the Market for Over-the-Air Downloads?—The Case of Germany

Music majors, who have been suffering from dwindling revenues in their core business, are placing extraordinary hopes on the new market of over-the-air (OTA) downloads. However, until now there has been no broad academic discussion about this market. In particular, two central questions have not yet been addressed: (a) Which factors influence the success of music majors in the OTA-download market?, and (b) How can music majors increase their success in this market? To answer these questions, this study used a holistic research approach, which combines an economical and a sociological perspective. This study first identified the drivers for the success in the OTA-download market and analyzed these factors in 1 large-scale survey (n = 1,780) in Germany and a series of expert interviews. Subsequently, a mathematical Excel-based tool was constructed and data optimization techniques from operations research were applied to derive the optimal mix of strategic measures that maximizes the success of music majors in the German OTA-download market. Finally, recommendations for implementing these strategic measures are presented. This explorative study provides a systematic understanding of the general factors driving success in any OTA-download market. Therefore, there is hope that it will be relevant for both German and international scholars and managers.