CEO NARCISSISM, PRIOR EXPERIENCE, BOARD PRIOR EXPERIENCE, AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR): AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK USING UPPER ECHELONS THEORY, STAKEHOLDERS’ THEORY, AND A DECOMPOSED MEASURE OF CSR

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism and the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, the relationship between CEO prior CSR experiences and the focal firm’s CSR, the relationship between board prior CSR experiences and the focal firm’s CSR, and the relationship between CEO narcissism and corporate social responsibility decomposed into two main categories: internal CSR and external CSR. The study uses a sample of 295 fortune firm-CEO to test the hypothesized relationships. The study finds that CEO prior CSR and board prior CSR experiences are positively and significantly related to the focal firm’s CSR. The study finds that narcissism is negatively but not significantly related to the focal firm’s overall CSR, negatively but not significantly related to the internal CSR, and positively but not significantly related to the external CSR. Negative moderation effect of narcissism on the relationships between CEO and board prior CSR and the focal firm’s CSR, the effect was not statistically significant too. New approaches of measuring both CSR and narcissism are suggested and discussed. Additional analysis using separate indicators of the narcissism measures and suggested measures are performed and discussed, the study concludes with acknowledging the limitations and providing directions for future research.