Skip to main content
Log in

Organizational Narcissism and Virtuous Behavior

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Extreme narcissistic organizations are unable to behave ethically because they lack a moral identity. While such organizations are not necessarily unethical intentionally, they become self-obsessed and use a sense of entitlement, self-aggrandizement, denial, and rationalizations to justify anything they do. Extreme narcissistic organizations might develop formal ethics programs, but such programs will have little effect on behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association: 2000, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anand V., B. E. Ashforth, M. Joshi: 2005, Business as Usual: The Acceptance and Perpetuation of Corruption in Organizations. Academy of Management Executive, 1, 9–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjorck, F.: 2004, ‹Institutional Theory: A New Perspective for Research into IS/IT Security in Organizations’, Proceedings, 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

  • Brown, A. D.: 1997, Narcissism, Identity, and Legitimacy. Academy of Management Review, 22, 643–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duchon, D. and M. Burns: 2007, ‹Organizational Narcissism’, Proceedings, Southwest Academy of Management meeting, San Diego, CA

  • Ganesh, S.: (2003), Organizational Narcissism. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 558–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, B.: 1999, ‹The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability’, in A. Cohill and J. Kruth (eds.), Pathways to Sustainability: The Age of Transformation (published on-line at http://www.ceres.ca.gov/tcsf/pathways/index.html by the Tahoe Center for a Sustainable Future, 1999)

  • Hatch M. J., M. Schultz: 2000, Scaling the Tower of Babel: Relational Differences Between Identity, Image, and Culture in Organizations. In M. Schultz, M. J. Hatch, & M. L. Larson (Eds.), The Expressive Organization: Linking Identity, Reputation, and the Corporate Brand. New York: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Ketola, T.: 2006, Corporate Psychological Defences: An Oil Spill Case. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 149–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacIntyre, A.: 2007, After Virtue, 3rd Ed. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore G., R. Beadle: 2006, In Search of Organizational Virtue in Business: Agents, Goods, Practices, Institutions and Environments. Organization Studies, 27(3), 369–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, R. P.: 2006, Introduction to the Special Issue. In Search of Organizational Virtue: Moral Agency in Organizations. Organization Studies, 27(3), 317–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell W., P. DiMaggio: 1991, The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J.: 2001, Corporate Governance and the Ethics of Narcissus. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11, 109–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E. H.: 1992, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2nd Ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W.: 2004, Institutional Theory. In G. Ritzer (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, M.: 2003, Unbounded Irrationality: Risk and Organizational Narcissism at Long Term Capital Management. Human Relations, 56, 523–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H.: 1972, La Categorisation Sociale. In S. Moscovici (Ed.), Introduction a la Psychologie Sociale. Paris: Larousse

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel H., J. C. Turner: 1986, The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behaviour. In S. Worchel, W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Toffler B., J. Reingold: 2003, Final Accounting: Ambition, Greed, and the Fall of Arthur Anderson. New York: Broadway Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Treviño L. K., M. E. Brown: 2004, Managing to be Ethical: Debunking Five Business Ethics Myths Academy of Management Executive, 18, 69–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Trice H. M., J. M. Beyer: 1993, The Cultures of Work Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, J. C.: 1985, Social Categorization and Self Concept: A Social Cognitive Theory of Group Behavior. Advances in Group Processes, 2, 77–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R.: 2006, Virtue in Organizations: Moral Identity as a Foundation for Moral Agency Organization Studies, 27(3), 341–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whetten, D. A.: 2006, Albert and Whetten Revisited: Strengthening the Concept of Organizational Identity. Journal of Management Inquiry, 15, 219–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dennis Duchon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Duchon, D., Drake, B. Organizational Narcissism and Virtuous Behavior. J Bus Ethics 85, 301–308 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9771-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9771-7

Keywords

Navigation