THE IMPACT OF MANAGERIAL PSYCHOPATHY ON ORGANISATIONAL INNOVATION

Abstract

Counter intuitively, this research finds that innovation is not negatively correlated with the presence of psychopathic managers but rather is significantly and positively correlated. This effect, from a survey of 261 full-time, white collar Australian employees, is strongest for product innovation and then administrative innovation, with the positive effect for process administration not statistically significant. Psychopathic managers have previously been linked to many detrimental characteristics within organisations and while this study finds employees working under psychopathic managers have lower autonomy in completing their work, their creativity is not decreased. Thus, the usual mechanism of higher creativity producing higher innovation is not the path linking psychopathic managers to innovation. It may be that the extreme environment, stress and high pressure created by psychopathic managers pushes employees towards innovativeness. This potentially positive effect of psychopathic managers is contrasted with their commonly reported negative aspects and suggests new avenues to explore for research aiming to increase innovation in the workplace.