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Sharing Strategic Decisions: CEO Humility, TMT Decentralization, and Ethical Culture

Journal of Business Ethics volume 178, pages 241–260 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Humility is increasingly recognized as an essential attribute for individuals at top management levels to build successful organizations. However, research on CEO humility has focused on how humble chief executive officers (CEOs) shape collective perceptions through their interactions and behaviors with other organizational members while overlooking CEOs’ critical role in making strategic decisions. We address this unexplored aspect of CEO humility by proposing that humble CEOs influence decision-making decentralization at the top management team (TMT) and subsequently promote an organizational ethical culture. Using a sample of CEOs and TMT members from 120 small- and medium-sized enterprises, we find strong support for our hypotheses. We discuss important implications for research on CEO humility and strategic leadership.

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Notes

  1. Firms fit the Colombian definition of SMEs, which is based on both the number of employees and assets.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University, 3235 Gerdin Business Building, Ames, IA, 50010, USA

    Sebastian Cortes-Mejia & Pol Herrmann

  2. Department of Management, Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, Sacred Heart University, 1037 West Campus East Building, Fairfield, CT, 06825, USA

    Andres Felipe Cortes

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  1. Sebastian Cortes-Mejia
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  2. Andres Felipe Cortes
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  3. Pol Herrmann
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Correspondence to Sebastian Cortes-Mejia.

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Cortes-Mejia, S., Cortes, A.F. & Herrmann, P. Sharing Strategic Decisions: CEO Humility, TMT Decentralization, and Ethical Culture. J Bus Ethics 178, 241–260 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04766-8

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Keywords

  • CEO humility
  • Top management team (TMT)
  • Decentralization
  • Ethical culture
  • Upper echelons