It's All about All of Us: The Rise of Narcissism and Its Implications for Management Control System Research

While the construct of narcissism has existed for well over 100 years, it has become the most discussed personality disorder of recent times and has the potential to influence organizational culture and control systems. Although systematic research on narcissism has been conducted at the individual level, research on its effects within organizations is still in its nascent stages. Our objectives in this paper are threefold: (1) to present an overview of the narcissism construct and its causes, (2) to review how narcissistic employees behave differently in work settings compared to less narcissistic employees, and (3) to develop a framework for research from which we develop testable hypotheses about how increased levels of employee narcissism can affect the design and performance of management control systems.