The Interactive Effects of Abusive CEOs and Philanthropic Corporate Social Responsibility on Organizational Innovation and Performance

We examine how and when chief executive officer (CEO) abusive leadership can undermine organizational innovation and performance by diminishing top management team (TMT) behavioral integration. Based on upper echelons theory and the related interface perspective, we analyzed cross-sectional survey data from CEOs and TMTs of 308 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Study 1 and multi-wave multisource survey data from CEOs and TMTs of 287 SMEs in Study 2. The empirical results support our theory. In addition, these effects are moderated by philanthropic corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiated by CEOs, such that CEO abusive leadership has a more substantial negative indirect impact on organizational innovation and performance when the level of philanthropic CSR is elevated. This moderation is attributed to TMT members’ amplified negative perceptions of receiving inconsistent treatment, whereby the CEO treats external stakeholders favorably and internal executives poorly. The combined effects of CEO abusive leadership and philanthropic CSR on organizational innovation and performance add to the literature on abusive leadership, strategic leadership interfaces, and upper echelons theory.