Hubris in Management

Abstract

Hubris is a grandiose sense of self, characterized by overconfidence, arrogance, and contempt toward the advice and criticism of others. Hubristic leaders create the conditions that invite unintended negative consequences by overestimating the likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimating the likelihood of negative outcomes from their decisions and actions. The early decades of the 20th century witnessed an upsurge of interest in hubris. The study of hubris in business and management began in behavioral finance, but this has since extended into other subfields of business and management, including strategic management, top management teams, entrepreneurship, leadership, and business ethics.