PhD defence at MSC: Sarosh Asad gains her PhD degree

On 1 December, PhD Fellow Sarosh Asad successfully defended her PhD dissertation with the title ‘CEO narcissism and board composition: Implications for firm strategy and performance’.

The thesis is comprised of four independent essays—one theoretical and three empirical. Motivated by advances in upper echelon theory and the ever-widening influence of strategic leaders [chief executive officers (CEOs), top management teams, and boards of directors] in practice, the four essays investigate the impact of demographic and personality characteristics of strategic leaders on firm behavior and performance.

The first essay empirically investigates the role of directors’ characteristics (in terms of directors’ age, education, and tenure)

in influencing organizational aspirations to appoint women on top management teams. The second essay empirically examines how representation of gender and ethnic minority directors on corporate boards stirs shareholder unrest (i.e., the extent of shareholder dissatisfaction with corporate governance practices).  The third essay adopts a psychological lens on strategic leadership by focusing on two important yet often-conflated personal attributes of CEOs. Specifically, the conceptual essay juxtaposes narcissism (i.e., a stable personality trait characterized by an inflated sense of self and a need for attention) and hubris (i.e., a psychological state triggered by accession to a position of significant power). The final essay meta-analyzes whether and how CEO personality, particularly narcissism, is consequential for firms’ social and financial performance.

Taken together, the thesis contributes to scholarship on strategic leadership and governance. It extends support for upper echelon theory by confirming the relevance of managerialspecific effects in explaining firm behavior and performance. The observable characteristics and personalities of strategic leaders not only affect firm-level outcomes but also affect how external audiences perceive and evaluate them, which may have important consequences for their career outcomes and firm value.

Sarosh’s PhD was partly supported by the CBS's business-in-society Diversity and Difference platform and supervised by Associate Professor Minna Paunova (primary), Professor mso Sara Louise Muhr and Associate Professor Aleksandra Gregoric (secondary).

For more information, please contact Sarosh Asad, sas.msc@cbs.dk.