IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v60y2023i5p1236-1272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

I Did It My Way: CEO Core Self‐Evaluations and the Environmental Contingencies on Firm Risk‐Taking Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Christian J. Resick
  • Sucheta Nadkarni
  • Jenny Chu
  • Jianhong Chen
  • Wan‐Chien Lien
  • Jaclyn A. Margolis
  • Ping Shao

Abstract

This study presents an environmentally contingent view of CEO core self‐evaluations (CSE) and their effects on strategic risk taking. Drawing on upper echelons theory and approach‐avoidance theory, we propose that high CSE CEOs are responsive to rather than disregard environmental cues and pursue strategic risks that enable their firms to capitalize on competitive opportunities while refraining from risks not suited to the external environment. Focusing on two forms of strategic risk – resource allocation risk taking and strategic non‐conformity – we develop hypotheses examining the contingencies across levels of environmental concentration, dynamism, and munificence. We test our hypotheses on a panel of 106 CEOs from publicly traded US companies over a period from 1998 to 2004 using historiometric analyses. Supporting our hypotheses, findings indicate that the effects of CEO CSE on resource allocation risk taking and strategic non‐conformity are contingent on industry concentration and environmental dynamism. Findings advance the understanding of CEOs' positive self‐regard.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian J. Resick & Sucheta Nadkarni & Jenny Chu & Jianhong Chen & Wan‐Chien Lien & Jaclyn A. Margolis & Ping Shao, 2023. "I Did It My Way: CEO Core Self‐Evaluations and the Environmental Contingencies on Firm Risk‐Taking Strategies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1236-1272, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:60:y:2023:i:5:p:1236-1272
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12872
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joms.12872?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy B. Palmer & Robert M. Wiseman, 1999. "Decoupling risk taking from income stream uncertainty: a holistic model of risk," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(11), pages 1037-1062, November.
    2. Herman Aguinis & Jeffrey R. Edwards, 2014. "Methodological Wishes for the Next Decade and How to Make Wishes Come True," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 143-174, January.
    3. Guoli Chen & Craig Crossland & Shuqing Luo, 2015. "Making the same mistake all over again: CEO overconfidence and corporate resistance to corrective feedback," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1513-1535, October.
    4. Christian Schumacher & Steffen Keck & Wenjie Tang, 2020. "Biased interpretation of performance feedback: The role of CEO overconfidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1139-1165, June.
    5. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 20-43, July.
    7. Adam J. Wowak & Michael J. Mannor & Mathias Arrfelt & Gerry McNamara, 2016. "Earthquake or glacier? How CEO charisma manifests in firm strategy over time," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 586-603, March.
    8. Mirko H. Benischke & Geoffrey P. Martin & Lotte Glaser, 2019. "CEO equity risk bearing and strategic risk taking: The moderating effect of CEO personality," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 153-177, January.
    9. Steven W. Bradley & Dean A. Shepherd & Johan Wiklund, 2011. "The Importance of Slack for New Organizations Facing ‘Tough’ Environments," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1071-1097, July.
    10. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    11. Daniel L Gamache & François Neville & Jonathan Bundy & Cole E Short, 2020. "Serving differently: CEO regulatory focus and firm stakeholder strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7), pages 1305-1335, July.
    12. Jane E. Dutton & Robert B. Duncan, 1987. "The creation of momentum for change through the process of strategic issue diagnosis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(3), pages 279-295, May.
    13. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    14. Yi Tang & Cuili Qian & Guoli Chen & Rui Shen, 2015. "How CEO hubris affects corporate social (ir)responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9), pages 1338-1357, September.
    15. David L. Deephouse, 1999. "To be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of strategic balance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 147-166, February.
    16. Donald D. Bergh & Michael W. Lawless, 1998. "Portfolio Restructuring and Limits to Hierarchical Governance: The Effects of Environmental Uncertainty and Diversification Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 87-102, February.
    17. Joseph S. Harrison & Gary R. Thurgood & Steven Boivie & Michael D. Pfarrer, 2019. "Measuring CEO personality: Developing, validating, and testing a linguistic tool," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1316-1330, August.
    18. Anderson, Philip & Tushman, Michael L, 2001. "Organizational Environments and Industry Exit: The Effects of Uncertainty, Munificence and Complexity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(3), pages 675-711, September.
    19. Cynthia E. Devers & Gerry McNamara & Robert M. Wiseman & Mathias Arrfelt, 2008. "Moving Closer to the Action: Examining Compensation Design Effects on Firm Risk," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 548-566, August.
    20. Katalin Takacs Haynes & Amy Hillman, 2010. "The effect of board capital and CEO power on strategic change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(11), pages 1145-1163, November.
    21. S. Trevis Certo & John R. Busenbark & Hyun‐soo Woo & Matthew Semadeni, 2016. "Sample selection bias and Heckman models in strategic management research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(13), pages 2639-2657, December.
    22. Brian L. Connelly & Qiang (John) Li & Wei Shi & Kang‐Bok Lee, 2020. "CEO dismissal: Consequences for the strategic risk taking of competitor CEOs," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(11), pages 2092-2125, November.
    23. Sartori, Anne E., 2003. "An Estimator for Some Binary-Outcome Selection Models Without Exclusion Restrictions," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 111-138, April.
    24. Yi Tang & Daniel Z. Mack & Guoli Chen, 2018. "The differential effects of CEO narcissism and hubris on corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1370-1387, May.
    25. Pol Herrmann & Deepak K Datta, 2002. "CEO Successor Characteristics and the Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: An Empirical Study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 551-569, September.
    26. Gupta, Vipin & MacMillan, Ian C. & Surie, Gita, 2004. "Entrepreneurial leadership: developing and measuring a cross-cultural construct," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 241-260, March.
    27. Sucheta Nadkarni & Pamela S. Barr, 2008. "Environmental context, managerial cognition, and strategic action: an integrated view," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(13), pages 1395-1427, December.
    28. Pasi Kuusela & Thomas Keil & Markku Maula, 2017. "Driven by aspirations, but in what direction? Performance shortfalls, slack resources, and resource-consuming vs. resource-freeing organizational change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 1101-1120, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yungu Kang & David H. Zhu & Yan Anthea Zhang, 2021. "Being extraordinary: How CEOS' uncommon names explain strategic distinctiveness," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 462-488, February.
    2. Han, Yu & Chi, Wei & Zhou, Jinyi, 2022. "Prosocial imprint: CEO childhood famine experience and corporate philanthropic donation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1604-1618.
    3. Christian Schumacher & Steffen Keck & Wenjie Tang, 2020. "Biased interpretation of performance feedback: The role of CEO overconfidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1139-1165, June.
    4. Jennifer Kunz & Lara Sonnenholzner, 2023. "Managerial overconfidence: promoter of or obstacle to organizational resilience?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 67-128, January.
    5. Andreas Wagner & Denise Fischer‐Kreer, 2024. "The role of CEO regulatory focus in increasing or reducing corporate carbon emissions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1051-1065, February.
    6. Joon Mahn Lee & Jung Chul Park & Guoli Chen, 2023. "A cognitive perspective on real options investment: CEO overconfidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 1084-1110, April.
    7. Wei Shi & Guoli Chen & Boshuo Li, 2023. "Problem Solving or Responsibility Avoidance? The Role of CEO Internal Attribution Tendency in Shaping Corporate Downsizing in Response to Performance Shortfalls," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1273-1301, July.
    8. Dayuan Li & Yuqing Zhao & Ding Wang & Lu Zhang & Yang Liu, 2023. "Too Far East is West: CEO Overconfidence Influences Firm Internationalization in Emerging Economies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 377-402, June.
    9. Loureiro, Gilberto & Makhija, Anil K. & Zhang, Dan, 2020. "One dollar CEOs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 425-439.
    10. Stevo Pavićević & Thomas Keil, 2021. "The role of procedural rationality in debiasing acquisition decisions of overconfident CEOs," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9), pages 1696-1715, September.
    11. White, Joshua V. & Harms, P.D. & Borgholthaus, Cameron J. & Tuggle, Christopher S., 2023. "I’m not the executive that I used to be: Understanding causes and consequences of personality change in the upper echelons," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Guiyu Bai & Delin Meng, 2022. "Assessing Influence Mechanism of Management Overconfidence, Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Corporate Value: The Moderating Effect of Government Environmental Governance and Media Attention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Tuck Siong Chung & Angie Low & Roland T. Rust, 2023. "Executive confidence and myopic marketing management," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 1118-1142, September.
    14. Lu Zhang & Shenggang Ren & Xiaohong Chen & Dayuan Li & Duanjinyu Yin, 2020. "CEO Hubris and Firm Pollution: State and Market Contingencies in a Transitional Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 459-478, January.
    15. Ralf Meinhardt & Sebastian Junge & Martin Weiss, 2018. "The organizational environment with its measures, antecedents, and consequences: a review and research agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 195-235, April.
    16. Xi Zhong & Liuyang Ren & Tiebo Song, 2022. "Beyond Market Strategies: How Multiple Decision-Maker Groups Jointly Influence Underperforming Firms’ Corporate Social (Ir)responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 481-499, June.
    17. Johannes Brunzel, 2021. "Overconfidence and narcissism among the upper echelons: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 585-623, July.
    18. Shan Xu & Panyi Ma, 2022. "CEOs’ Poverty Experience and Corporate Social Responsibility: Are CEOs Who Have Experienced Poverty More Generous?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 747-776, October.
    19. Aabo, Tom & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul & Trigeorgis, Lenos & Wulff, Jesper N., 2024. "CEO personality traits, strategic flexibility, and firm dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Haeyoung Koo & Choelsoon Park, 2018. "Foundation of leadership in Asia: Leader characteristics and leadership styles review and research agenda," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 697-718, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:60:y:2023:i:5:p:1236-1272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.