| Abstrakt: |
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted how businesses operate, creating high levels of uncertainty on the part of organizational members. Drawing on social information processing theory and implicit leadership theory, we develop and test a model that explains how middle managers' perception of CEO narcissism shapes their perceived uncertainty at work, particularly when COVID-19 threatens the firm's survival and growth. Managers' sense of uncertainty leads to their engagement in uncertainty-based coping responses, including laissez-faire leadership (i.e., escape coping) and impression management (i.e., control coping). We collected data from 200 middle managers in North America and the United Kingdom and found general support for our model. Our research bridges the gap between macro and micro perspectives and provides novel insights about how perceived CEO narcissism can shape managers' behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby contributing to the literatures on CEO narcissism, leadership, and crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
