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Can Being Overconfident Make You A Better Leader?, Kenny Phua, T. Mandy Tham, Chi Shen Wei
Can Being Overconfident Make You A Better Leader?, Kenny Phua, T. Mandy Tham, Chi Shen Wei
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs approached AT&T about partnering on a new kind of mobile phone — a touchscreen computer that would fit in your pocket — Apple had no expertise in the mobile market. Yet AT&T executives quickly came to believe so strongly in Job’s vision that they skipped internal process protocols to land the deal. Randall Stephenson, then CEO of AT&T, famously said, “I told people you weren’t betting on a device. You were betting on Steve Jobs.” Apple went on to secure massive commitments from AT&T’s suppliers, who spent hundreds of millions to build factories for iPhone-specific …
Are Overconfident Ceos Better Leaders? Evidence From Stakeholder Commitments, Kenny Phua, T. Mandy Tham, Chi Shen Wei
Are Overconfident Ceos Better Leaders? Evidence From Stakeholder Commitments, Kenny Phua, T. Mandy Tham, Chi Shen Wei
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We find evidence that the leadership of overconfident chief executive officers (CEOs) induces stakeholders to take actions that contribute to the leader's vision. By being intentionally overexposed to the idiosyncratic risk of their firms, overconfident CEOs exhibit a strong belief in their firms’ prospects. This belief attracts suppliers beyond the firm's observable expansionary corporate activities. Overconfident CEOs induce more supplier commitments including greater relationship-specific investment and longer relationship duration. Overconfident CEOs also induce stronger labor commitments as employees exhibit lower turnover rates and greater ownership of company stock in benefit plans.