Is the Boss Always Right?

What role does personality play in decision making when it comes to executives? Consider Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada” and Michael Scott in “The Office.” Did their personalities influence their strategic decisions? The answer according to research by a Drexel LeBow College of Business professor is YES.

“CEOs are humans and their personalities, values and biases greatly enter decisions,” said Dr. Sucheta Nadkarni, associate professor of management. “Depending on their personalities, CEOs facing identical strategic situations will make different decisions when managing strategic change.”

Until now strategy scholars considered strategy an objective and rational process where executives always choose the right thing, but Nadkarni and her colleagues found this is not the case after surveying 120 CEOs of small and medium sized companies.

More information on Nadkarni’s research is available at: http://www.lebow.drexel.edu/news/ceos-research-shows-personality-matters