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Ingredients of Sustainable CEO Behaviour: Theory and Practice

Author

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  • Gianpaolo Abatecola

    (Department of Management and Law, School of Economics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy)

  • Matteo Cristofaro

    (Department of Management and Law, School of Economics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

What CEO attributes can improve corporate sustainability? In this regard, what do superstar CEOs, e.g., Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates, have in common? Also, did the personalities of Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay contribute to the crack in the US Enron Corporation early in this century? Why, as far as presidential elections are concerned, are some countries, more than others, more likely to vote for seemingly narcissistic politicians? In our practice-oriented review article, we aim to contribute to shedding new light on the challenging evidence continuously evolving around CEOs, in general, and around their effect on corporate sustainability, in particular. Two distinctive features represent the main “so-what” value of our work. First, each of the CEO attributes which we sequentially focus on (i.e., power, personality, profiles, and effect) is, at the beginning, not only separately considered but also associated with many recent examples from business life and from the “CEO world” at an international level. Second, from our analysis, we then derive a conceptual framework which, combining all these attributes into a unique body of knowledge, could be used as a potential starting point for future investigations in this challenging research area regarding the CEO/sustainability relationship. In this regard, we believe understanding how all the analysed attributes coevolve will represent a pivotal question to address if we want to enhance the scientific and practical understanding of CEO (sustainable) behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianpaolo Abatecola & Matteo Cristofaro, 2019. "Ingredients of Sustainable CEO Behaviour: Theory and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:7:p:1950-:d:219184
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    2. Hyun-ju Choi, 2021. "Effect of Chief Executive Officer’s Sustainable Leadership Styles on Organization Members’ Psychological Well-Being and Organizational Citizenship Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-29, December.
    3. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
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    5. Fernando Gómez-Bezares & Wojciech Przychodzen & Justyna Przychodzen, 2019. "Corporate Sustainability and CEO–Employee Pay Gap—Buster or Booster?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Matteo Cristofaro & Pier Luigi Giardino & Luna Leoni, 2020. "The Influence of Core Self-Evaluations on Group Decision Making Processes: A Laboratory Experiment," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, May.

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