A blessing and a curse: How Ceos' trait empathy affects their management of organizational crises

König A, Graf-Vlachy L, Bundy J, Little LM (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Academy of Management Review Academy of Management

Book Volume: 45

Pages Range: 130-153

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.5465/amr.2017.0387

Abstract

How does CEOs' trait empathy affect their management of organizational crises? So far, management scholars have highlighted mostly positive effects of CEOs' empathy in the emotionally charged context of crises. We combine the emerging critical perspective on empathy with research on upper echelons and crisis management to provide a more balanced portrayal of the influence of CEO empathy on crisis management. Specifically, we argue that, on the one hand, highly empathic CEOs will recognize warning signs more quickly, have access to more crisis-related information, gain greater stakeholder appreciation via displays of compassion, and be more committed to healing the organization's relational system. On the other hand, they also may be more predisposed to false alarms, more biased in processing crisis-related information, overinclined toward apologetic sensegiving, and less committed to repairing the organization's operational system. Ultimately, we propose that CEOs' empathy influences their effectiveness in the various tasks of crisis management in an inverted U-shaped pattern. Our theory offers an upper echelons view of organizational crises, particularly by illuminating the roles of empathy and emotions in executives' crisis management. We also introduce a novel, "too-much-of-a-good-thing" perspective on CEO empathy, providing abundant opportunities for future research.

Involved external institutions

Universität Passau DE Germany (DE) Arizona State University (ASU) US United States (USA) (US) University of Georgia (UGA) US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

König, A., Graf-Vlachy, L., Bundy, J., & Little, L.M. (2020). A blessing and a curse: How Ceos' trait empathy affects their management of organizational crises. Academy of Management Review, 45(1), 130-153. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0387

MLA:

König, Andreas, et al. "A blessing and a curse: How Ceos' trait empathy affects their management of organizational crises." Academy of Management Review 45.1 (2020): 130-153.

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