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CEO Archetype Identity Drives Organization Culture
Author(s) -
Prince Melvin,
Forr James,
Wardlaw Jim,
Plummer Joseph
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of leadership studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.219
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1935-262X
pISSN - 1935-2611
DOI - 10.1002/jls.21642
Subject(s) - archetype , organisation climate , openness to experience , psychology , organizational culture , public relations , organizational learning , sociology , organization development , social psychology , organizational identity , knowledge management , business , organizational commitment , political science , computer science , art , literature
In the current study the relationships between CEO archetypes and organizational climate were examined. Archetypes are historical, mythical, and cultural representations that are shared in our collective unconscious. Data were collected from a CEO and his employees, using a mixed methods research approach which involved the Zaltman Metaphorical Elicitation Technique (ZMET), as well as personality measures and quantitative assessments of organizational climate. The CEO archetype as perceived by employees is that of a benevolent patriarch which mirrors the CEO's self‐concept as caring for the well‐being of employees. Employees ascribed the stress‐free and nurturing organizational climate to the CEO's archetypical leadership style. However, their organizational climate, in principle, leads to excessive employee familistic dependence on the CEO for making important organizational decisions and supplying creative ideation. The present study of a CEO archetype and its bearing on organizational climate is unique, filling an important gap in management knowledge. Implications of the study involve the channeling of its insights about the archetype‐embedded organizational climate, so as to better select administrative managers, improve organizational communication trust and openness, stimulate creative innovation, handle organizational crises, and generally promote employee well‐being.