It’s All About… Us? – How CEO Narcissism Shapes Business Ecosystems

Abstract

We conceptualize how CEO narcissism shapes business ecosystems. Moving beyond the prevalent intra-organizational focus of extant upper echelons research, we propose that CEO narcissism influences the ecosystem not only through the actions of the ecosystem-orchestrating CEO, but also through the behaviors of affiliate firms’ CEOs and the inter-organizational interactions that stem from their respective narcissism levels. Specifically, we contend that (1) the narcissism of the ecosystem-orchestrating CEO triggers greater ecosystem salience and ecosystem consolidation; (2) this heightened salience and consolidation, in turn, attract greater participation from, and are reinforced by, affiliate firms led by highly-narcissistic CEOs; and (3) ultimately, the ecosystem salience and consolidation induced by CEO narcissism foster ecosystem growth but undermine value co-creation within the ecosystem.

Learn more about this lunch seminar on the website of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.