Narcissism, Entrepreneurial Learning and Entrepreneurial Failure

Hafiz Rahman, Sofi Amalia

Abstract

This study evidences that psychological construct in terms of narcissistic behavior through an excessive use of social media will not boost entrepreneurs to learn from past failure experiences in business. By considering excessive narcissism through social media as a personality disorder, this study examines it as a possible cause of entrepreneurial failure. The study uses data from two sets of questionnaire with one hundred and fifty failed entrepreneurs. Analysis is quantitatively undertaken with Structural Equation Modelling/SEM and is supported by the result of Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16/NPI-16 questionnaire which reflects the degree of respondents’ narcissistic behavior. The study infers that the greater narcissistic behavior entrepreneurs has, even with the presence of entrepreneurial learning from the past failures, may lead entrepreneurs to experience subsequent failure. Stubbornness and hypocrisy are two reasons behind this. Therefore, entrepreneurs should be aware of their negative character-personality and psychological aspects when performing entrepreneurial processes.

Keywords

narcissism, NPI-16, entrepreneurial performance, entrepreneurial failure, entrepreneurial process

Full Text:

PDF

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition DSM-5. American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, DC and London, England.

Amankwah-Amoah, J., & Hongxu, Z., (2015). Business Failure Research: a Review of the Chinese Experience. International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 10(2-4), 180-197.

Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P., (2006). The NPI-16 as a Short Measure of Narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(4), 440-450

Andrunik, A. A., & Svetlakov, A. G. (2013). Overcoming Opportunistic Behavior of Personnel in Modern Companies. World Applied Sciences Journal, 22(1), 57-62.

Arasti, Z. (2011). An Empirical Study on the Causes of Business Failure in Iranian Context. African Journal of Business Management, 5(17), 7488-7498.

Atsan, N., (2016). Failure Experiences of Entrepreneurs: Causes and Learning Outcomes. Procedia. Social and Behavioural Sciences, 235(November), 435-442.

Besra, E., Rahman, H., & Nurhayati. (2018). How Do We Perceive Failure? Introducing the Integrative Model of Entrepreneurial Failure. Proceedings. 2nd International Conference on Management & Entrepreneurship (26-18 July). 23-34. Jogjakarta

Brunell, A. B., Gentry, W. A., Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., Kuhnert, K. W., & Demarree, K. G. (2008). Leader Emergence: the Case of the Narcissistic Leader. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(12), 1663-1676.

Campbell, W. K., Goodie, A. S., & Foster, J. D. (2004). Narcissism, Confidence, and Risk Attitude. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 17(4), 297-311.

Cardon, M. S., Foo, M. D., Shepherd, D. A., & Wiklund, J. (2012). Exploring the Heart: Entrepreneurial Emotion is a Hot Topic. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36(1), 1-10.

Cardon, M., Stevens, C., & Potter, D. (2011). Misfortunes or Mistakes? Cultural Sensemaking of Entrepreneurial Failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(1), 79-92.

Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D. (2007). It’s All About Me: Narcissistic Chief Executive officers and their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(3), 351-386.

Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D. (2011). Executive Personality, Capability Cues, and Risk Taking: How Narcissistic CEOs React to their Successes and Stumbles. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(2), 202-237.

Chen, Y. G., & Koenig, H. G., (2006). Traumatic Stress and Religion: is there a Relationship? a Review of Empirical Findings. Journal of Religion and Health, 45(3), 371-381.

Cope, J. (2001). The Entrepreneurial Experience: towards a Dynamic Learning Perspective of Entrepreneurship. Unpublished Ph.d. Thesis. University of Lancaster.

Cope, J. (2003). Entrepreneurial Learning and Critical Reflection: Discontinuous Events as Triggers for Higher Level Learning. Management Learning, 34(4), 429-450.

Cope, J. (2005). Toward a Dynamic Learning Perspective of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(4), 373-397.

Cope, J., & Watts, G. (2000). Learning by Doing: an Exploration of Experience, Critical Incidents and Reflection in Entrepreneurial Learning. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, 6(3), 104-124.

Cordes, C., Richerson, P., McElreath, R., & Strimling, P., (2010). How Does Opportunistic Behaviour Influence Firm Size? an Evolutionary Approach to Organizational Behaviour. Journal of Institutional Economics, 7(1),1-21.

Couldry, N., (2015). Social Media: Human Life. Social Media + Society, 1(1), 1-2.

Drahošová, M., & Balco, P., (2017). The Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages of Use of Social Media in European Union. Procedia Computer Science, 109(June), 1005-1009.

Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 26(4), 331-362.

Garaika, G., & Margahana, H., (2019). Self-Efficacy, Self-Personality and Self-Confidence on Entrepreneurial Intention: Study on Young Enterprises. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 22(1), 1-12.

Gerstner, W., Konig, A., Enders, A., & Hambrick, D. (2013). CEO Narcissism, Audience Engagement, and Organizational Adoption of Technological Discontinuities. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(2), 257-291.

Grijalva, E., Harms, P., Newman, D., Gaddis, B., & Fraley, R. (2015). Narcissism and Leadership: a Meta-Analytic Review of Linear and Nonlinear Relationships. Personnel Psychology, 68(1), 1-47.

Hammer, M. H., & Khelil, N. (2014). Exploring the Different Patterns of Entrepreneurial Exit: the Causes and Consequences. Proceedings. 59th ICSB World Conference on Entrepreneurship, (11-14 June), Dublin.

Hogarth, R., M., & Karelaia, N, (2012) Entrepreneurial Success and Failure: Confidence and Fallible Judgement. Organization Science, 23(6), 1-27.

Jindrichovska, I., (2013). Financial Management in SMEs. European Research Studies, 16(4), 79-96.

Judge, T., Lepine, J., & Rich, B. (2006). Loving Yourself Abundantly: Relationship of the Narcissistic Personality to Self- and other Perceptions of Workplace Deviance, Leadership, and Task and Contextual Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 762-776.

Justino, M. V., & Tengeh, R. K., (2016). Role of External Environmental Factors in the Failure of Small Enterprises in Angola. Environmental Economics, 7(2), 87-97.

Khan, G. F, Swar, B., & Lee, S. K., (2014). Social Media Risks and Benefits: a Public Sector Perspective. Social Science Computer Review, 32(5), 606-627.

Khelil, N., (2016). The Many Faces of Entrepreneurial Failure: Insights from an Empirical Taxonomy. Journal of Business Venturing, 31(1), 72-94.

Khelil, N. (2012). What are We Talking About When We Talk About Entrepreneurial Failure?. Proceedings. Rent XXVI-Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business, (22-23 November 2012), Lyon.

Kring, A. M., Johnson, S. L., Davidson, G., & Neale, J. (2014). Abnormal Psychology Twelfth Edition DSM 5 Update. United States of America: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lafontaine, F., & Shaw, K. (2014). Serial Entrepreneurship: Learning by Doing?. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(2), 217-254.

Lemeshow, S., Jr., D. W., Klar, J., & Lwanga, S. K. (1990). Adequacy of Sample Size in Health Studies. New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Liu, Y., Li, Y., Hao, X., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Narcissism and Learning from Entrepreneurial Failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(3), 496-512

Mantere, S., Aula, P., Schildt, H., & Vaara, E., (2013). Narrative Attributions of Entrepreneurial Failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(4), 459-473

Marx, M.h., & Marx, K. (1980). Confirmation of the Stubborn-Error Effect in Human Multiple-Choice Verbal Learning. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 16(6), 477-479.

Mathieu, C., & St-Jean, EÌ., (2013). Entrepreneurial Personality: the Role of Narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 527-531.

Mellahi, K & Wilkinson, A., (2010). Managing and Coping with Organizational Failure: Introduction to the Special Issue. Group and Organization Management, 35(5), 531-541.

Middleton, K. W., Mueller, S., Blenker, P., Neergaard, H., & Tunstall., (2014). Experience-Based Learning in Entrepreneurship Education-a Comparative Study of Four Programmes in Europe. Proceedings. Rent XXVIII Conference, (19-21 November 2014), Luxembourg.

Minniti, M., & Bygrave, W. (2001). A Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Learning. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25(3), 5-16.

Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (2001). Unraveling the Paradoxes of Narcissism: a Dynamic Self-Regulatory Processing Model. Psychological Inquiry, 12(4), 177-196.

O’boyle Jr, E. H., Forsyth, D. R., Banks, G. C., & Mcdaniel, M. A. (2012). A Meta-Analysis of the Dark Triad and Work Behavior: a Social Exchange Perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 557-579.

Peterson, S. J., Galvin, B. M., & Lange, D. (2012). CEO Servant Leadership: Exploring Executive Characteristics and Firm Performance. Personnel Psychology, 65(3), 565-596.

Piandehbasmenj, A. (2016). Entrepreneurial Venture Failure Experiences: an Analysis into Causes, Costs, and Outcomes of Venture Failure. Thesis. School of Industrial Engineering and Management.

Politis, D., 2005. The Process of Entrepreneurial Learning: a Conceptual Framework. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(4), 399-424.

Rae, D., (2007). Entrepreneurial Learning: a Conceptual Framework for Technology-Based Enterprise. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 18(1), 39-56.

Rae, D., & Carswell, M. (2000). Towards a Conceptual Understanding of Entrepreneurial Learning. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 8(2), 150-158.

Rahman, H., Besra, E., & Nurhayati, N., (2020), How Failure Leads to Learning among Nascent Entrepreneurs? the Evidence of Entrepreneurial Failure and Its Relationship to Entrepreneurial Learning. KnE Social Sciences, 4(3), 72-87.

Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A Principal Components Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and Further Evidence of its Construct Validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902.

Resick, C., Whitman, D., Weingarden, S., & Hiller, N. (2009). The Bright-Side and the Dark-Side of CEO Personality: Examining Core Self-Evaluations, Narcissism, Transformational Leadership, and Strategic Influence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1365-1381.

Sekaran, U. (2016). Research Methods for Business: a Skill-Building Approach (Seventh Ed). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Shepherd, D., Patzelt, H., & Wolfe, M. (2011). Moving forward from Project Failure: Negative Emotions, Affective Commitment, and Learning from the Experience. Academy of Management Journal, 54(6), 1229-1259.

Singh, S., Corner, P, & Pavlovich, K., (2015). Failed, Not Finished: a Narrative Approach to Understanding Venture Failure Stigmatization. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(1), 150-166.

Sitkin, S. (1992). Learning through Failure: the Strategy of Small Losses. Research in Organizational Behavior, 14(January), 231-266.

Smida, A. & Khelil, N. (2010). Repenser L’échec Entrepreneurial Des Petites Entreprises Émergentes. Proposition D’une Typologie S’appuyant Sur Une Approche Intégrative. Revue Internationale PME Économie Et Gestion De La Petite Et Moyenne Entreprise, 23(2), 65-106.

Talas, E., Celik, A. K., & Oral, I. O., (2013). The Influence of Demographic Factors on Entrepreneurial Intention among Undergraduate Students as a Career Choice: the Case of a Turkish University. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 3(12), 22-31.

Ucbasaran, D., Shepherd, D., Lockett, A., & Lyon, S. (2013). Life After Business Failure: the Process and Consequences of Business Failure for Entrepreneurs. Journal of Management, 39(1), 163-202.

Van Gelder, J. L., Vries, R. E., Frese, M., & Goutbeek, J.P., (2007). Differences in Psychological Strategies of Failed and Operational Business Owners in the Fiji Islands. Journal of Small Business Management, 45(3), 388-400.

Vazire, S., & Funder, D. C. (2006). Impulsivity and the Self-Defeating Behavior of Narcissists. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(2), 154-165.

Wadhwa, V., Aggarwal, R., Holly. H., & Salkever, A. (2009). Anatomy of an Entrepreneur: Family Background and Motivation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Research Report. Available at: https://www.kauffman.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/anatomy_of_entre_071309_final.pdf. July 2009.

Wallace, H. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2002). The Performance of Narcissists Rises and Falls with Perceived Opportunity for Glory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(5), 819-834.

Walsh, F., (2016). Applying a Family Resilience Framework in Training, Practice, and Research: Mastering the Art of the Possible. Family Process, 55(4), 616-632.

Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409-421.

Weick, K. (1979). The Social Psychology of Organizing. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley.

Wennberg, K. & Detienne, D. R., (2014). What Do We Really Mean When We Talk About ‘Exit’? a Critical Review of Research on Entrepreneurial Exit. International Small Business Journal, 32(1), 4-16.

Wennberg, K., Wiklund, J., Detienne, D. R., & Cardon, M. S. (2010). Reconceptualising Entrepreneurial Exit. Divergent Exitroutes and their Drivers. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(4), 361-375.

View Counter: Abstract - 459 and PDF - 395

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share