Happiness at Work Under the Toxic Leadership of Corporate Psychopaths

Author(s):  
Clive Boddy

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Roland Boddy ◽  
Robin Croft

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to knowledge by examining what happens to marketing in a time of toxic leadership, embodied in a corporate psychopath, in response to a call for marketers to seek a broader understanding of how marketing operates within organisations. Design/methodology/approach – Commentators have suggested that concepts outside the usual marketing domain may aid in the gaining of an intra-organisational understanding of how marketing operates. Here, the concept of corporate psychopathy was used to identify a psychopathic UK board director and chief executive officer (CEO) via a constructivist approach to research involving six in-depth interviews. A CEO and a main board director who were measurably psychopathic were studied via these reports. Findings – The paper examines how corporate psychopaths, as archetypal toxic leaders, are detrimental to marketing. Overseeing the marketing function within the UK part of an established and well-branded multi-national services company, corporate psychopaths capriciously dismantled the marketing initiatives that were in place and needlessly abandoned future marketing plans. Marketing services, marketing ethics, product quality and corporate reputation declined. Good marketers left. Practical implications – The research demonstrates the dangers to marketing of toxic leadership. The paper also suggests that marketing may be uniquely qualified to deal with toxic leaders because it can, through research, identify them through their effects and behaviour. The results illustrate the value of longitudinal qualitative market research in investigating complex organisational situations. Originality/value – The paper makes a unique contribution to the marketing field by empirically investigating, for the first time, the influence of a corporate psychopath director and a psychopathic CEO on the marketing function and practice. The research was conducted longitudinally using qualitative market research techniques via in-depth interviews over a two-year period. Longitudinal research aids in establishing causality, and this was evident in this research, as the negative influence of psychopathic leadership was monitored over time.



2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-185
Author(s):  
Alexandru Baboș ◽  
Raluca Rusu

AbstractThe toxic leadership refers to destructive behaviours and leaders’ personal characteristics which cause serious damage to the subordinates and organizations. Still, what is toxic for the military in one country can be good in another one, given the cultural differences. This article wants to emphasize, from a theoretical approach, the main characteristics and effects of toxic leadership within the military organization.



2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell W. Aubrey
Keyword(s):  


2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (36) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Lipman-Blumen
Keyword(s):  


Author(s):  
Naseer Abbas Khan

Abstract. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have been forced to use social media and digital applications to carry out routine tasks. This posed several complications and challenges that hindered harmonic interaction between managers and their subordinates. This study investigates the indirect association between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior via psychological safety (PYS). We also investigate the role of perceived insider status (PIS) as a moderator in the association between toxic leadership and PYS as well as the indirect connection between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior. The work is based on the timelag results of 282 supervisor-employee dyads from different small and mid-sized information technology (IT) firms. The results show that toxic leadership has a significant impact on employee PSY and proactive work behavior as well as revealing that PIS substantially mitigated the negative effects of toxic leadership on employee PYS. Similarly, PIS influences the mediating role of PYS in the association between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior of employees. This research is helpful for academics and practitioners involved in human-resource practices in the IT industry.



2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rahman Khan ◽  
Hamid Khan ◽  
Sajjad Ahmad Jan ◽  
Aziz Javad ◽  
Aman Ullah Khattak

Purpose of Study: The study aimed to examine the mediating effects of employee commitment in the relationship between toxic leadership and employee performance in the context of the banking sector, KP, Pakistan. The study is expected to provide significant information to existing knowledge databases about the toxic leaders, organizational commitment, and employees’ performance. Methodology of Study: The cross-sectional design was used to conduct the study by using a 5-point Likert scale through the questionnaire to collect primary data from the high-level managers of selected commercial banks located south region of KP, Pakistan. The sample of 234 employees of both public/private sector banks was taken randomly as the sample. To compute sample, Yamane (1967) formula for selecting sample from finite population: n=population (566), level of significance, e = 0.05 & n=sample size, sample size (n) = N/1+Ne2 = 566/1+566(0.05), 2 = 234. Main Findings: The results of the study revealed that the significant and positive association among the research variables, the significant impact of the predictors on the criterion variable, and the significant partial mediating role of the employee commitment in the relationship between the toxic leadership and employees’ performance. Applications of Study: The current study focuses on examining the role of toxic leadership on employee performance with mediating effect of employee commitment within the banking sector of KP, Pakistan. This study's significance lies in the banking sector, desiring to acquire sustainable competitive advantage through increased employee performance and employee commitment. Novelty/Originality of Study: The expectation that organizational commitment can improve the relationship between toxic leadership and employee performance is missed to a certain extent in the educational context that is expected to offer a new contribution to an existing database of research.





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