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Korean Academic Society of Business Administration
[ Article ]
korean management review - Vol. 47, No. 2, pp.451-479
ISSN: 1226-1874 (Print)
Print publication date 30 Apr 2018
Received 06 Dec 2017 Accepted 14 Feb 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2018.47.2.451

Corporate Social Responsibility as a Tool for Satisfying the Narcissistic Needs of a Hubristic CEO

Sae Jung Cha* ; Choelsoon Park**
*(First Author) Institute of Management Research at Seoul National University coolever@snu.ac.kr
**(Corresponding Author) Seoul National University cpark@snu.ac.kr
최고경영자 휴브리스(CEO Hubris)가 기업의 사회적 책임에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구
차세정* ; 박철순**
*서울대학교 경영대학 경영연구소, 주저자 coolever@snu.ac.kr
**서울대학교 경영대학, 교신저자 cpark@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

For the last decade, academia and business together have paid considerable attention to corporate social responsibility(CSR). In the past, most have focused on the relationship between CSR and firm performance, but the former’s influence on the latter has remained inconclusive at best. This inconsistency may arise because firms engage in CSR activities for different motivations. That is, not all firms pursue CSR activities for economic or financial purposes. A firm may participate CSR for non-economic or social motivations. In this paper, we thus investigate the antecedents of CSR, particularly non-economic or social motivations for CSR. Thus, we focus on CEO hubris as an antecedent of CSR and attempt to answer the following two related questions: First, how CEO with a hubris affects CSR? Second, which types of CSR does hubristic CEOs focus on? We examined 178 firms in South Korea and our results showed that CEO with a hubris is positively related to CSR. Of particular interest was our finding that hubristic CEOs focused on CSR activities that targeted secondary rather than primary stakeholders. While these activities for CSR targeting secondary stakeholders have less direct relationship to corporate survival and financial performance, hubristic CEOs use these activities to project themselves confidently. This action indicates that a hubristic CEO uses CSR activities as a means to attract public attention and thereby satisfy his or her narcissistic needs.

초록

최고경영자 휴브리스(CEO hubris)는 최고경영자가 지닌 심리적 편향성으로 자신의 능력이나 판단력에 대해 지나친 자신감을 보이는 것을 의미한다. Roll(1986)이 기업이 별 다른 이득도 없는 인수합병에 나서는 이유로 인수 기업 최고경영자가 지닌 휴브리스를 제시한 이래 이와 관련된 다수의 연구가 수행되었다. 이들 연구는 대부분 최고경영자 휴브리스가 기업의 전략이나 성과에 미치는 부정적인 영향을 규명하고 있다. 그런데 최근 들어, 이 같은 단편적인 시각에서 벗어나 경영자 휴브리스가 지닌 또 다른 측면을 들여다보려는 시도가 이루어지고 있다. 이 같은 흐름 속에서 본 연구는 기업의 사회적 책임 활동을 추구하는 비경제적 동인으로서의 최고경영자 휴브리스의 영향력을 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 휴브리스 성향의 최고경영자는 그렇지 않은 최고경영자에 비해 사회적 책임 활동을 더욱 적극적으로 수행하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 이는 이들 최고경영자가 자신을 과시하고 싶은 나르시즘 성향을 지닌데다 자신은 누구보다 사회적 책임 활동을 잘 수행할 수 있다는 자신감 역시 가지고 있기 때문으로 분석되었다. 기업의 사회적 책임 활동은 언론과 사회의 이목을 끄는 주요한 기업 활동이라는 점에서 ‘자기 과시욕’이 있는 휴브리스 성향의 최고경영자의 요구에 부합하기 때문이다. 이는 휴브리스 성향의 최고경영자들이 사회적 책임 활동 가운데서도 기업의 생존이나 재무적 성과와는 직접적인 관련은 없으나 사회적 주목을 끄는 데는 더욱 유용한 2차 이해관계자들을 대상으로 하는 사회적 책임 활동에 더욱 열성적인 것을 통해서도 재확인 할 수 있었다.

Keywords:

CEO hubris, CEO narcissism, CEO overconfidence, CSR

키워드:

최고경영자 휴브리스, 최고경영자의 나르시즘, 최고경영자의 지나친 자신감, 기업의 사회적 책임

Acknowledgments

본 연구는 서울대학교 경영대학 경영연구소의 지원으로 수행되었습니다.This work was supported by the Institute of Management Research at Seoul National University.

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• Sae Jung Cha(coolever@snu.ac.kr) is a researcher of The Institute of Management Research at Seoul National University. She received PhD from Seoul National University. Her research examines effects of top management teams on strategic changes in organization.

• Choelsoon Park(cpark@snu.ac.kr) is a professor of strategy and international management at the College of Business Administration, Seoul National University. He has a BA Degree in Economics from Seoul National University and received his PhD from Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. His research focuses on Strategic Management.