×

Jaw-dropping study: Executives who manipulate earnings are hired for their lack of ethics

Published Apr 05 2021 at 9:14 AM GMT
Key
Points
  • As a journalist who has interviewed hundreds of top CEOs, I can report that many of them are not overflowing with humanity.
  • Now we may know why: In an eye-opening peek into the business of evil, a new study in the Journal of Business Ethics finds that companies purposely hire people with unsavory personality traits when earnings manipulations are in order.
  • Researchers from universities in four states conducted a trio of experiments studying executive hiring under various organizational earnings demands.
  • They found that, yes indeed, when companies need to report earnings that stray from reality, no, they don’t hire a CFO with super strong ethical foundations.
  • They hire executives with “dark” personalities that are weak on ethics and strong on narcissistic traits.




Trending

Stats

  • Published Apr 5, 2021 9:14 AM GMT