The Implications of Corporate Psychopaths for Business and Society An Initial Examination and a Call To Arms

Jul 8, 2026

Corporate psychopaths are described as managers without conscience who use a charming façade to obtain promotion through ruthless opportunism and manipulation. Their organizational presence is treated as a relatively new topic in business and behavioural research, yet it yields multiple implications for work, research, and society. The paper reviews the concept, explains how senior levels may include them in larger numbers, defines key traits, and argues that they threaten business performance, longevity, and corporate social responsibility.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

Abstract

Introduction

What Are Corporate Psychopaths?

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: [https://www. researchgate. net/publication/229005647](https://www. researchgate. net/publication/229005647) The implications of corporate psychopaths for business and society: An initial examination and a call to arms Article · January 2005 CITATIONS 65 READS 2,657 1 author: C.R. Boddy Anglia Ruskin University 77 PUBLICATIONS 2,880 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: I am continuing to interview (qualitatively) people who have worked closely enough with dysfunctional managers to recognise their traits as partially or totally psychopathic. View project All content following this page was uploaded by C.R. Boddy on 06 January 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. CLIVE R. BODDY The Implications of Corporate Psychopaths for Business And Society: An Initial Examination And A Call To Arms CLIVE R. BODDY [CHBoddy@tinyonline.co.uk](CHBoddy@tinyonline.co.uk) Middlesex University Business School ABSTRACT Corporate Psychopaths are managers with no conscience who are willing to lie and are able to present a charming façade in order to gain managerial promotion via a ruthlessly opportunistic and manipulative approach to career advancement. What the implications of their presence in business organisations are is an area that is relatively new to the area of business and behavioural research. However the presence of Corporate Psychopaths has several implications for work in business research. This paper reviews the concept of Corporate Psychopaths, describes how they may theoretically be present in organisations at senior managerial levels in much larger numbers than their approximately 1% incidence in the general population would suggest and discusses the implications of this for business and society. The paper defines Corporate Psychopaths as those people working in corporations who are self-serving, opportunistic, ego-centric, ruthless and shameless but who can be charming, manipulative and ambitious. It reviews the recent series of papers and news articles on Corporate Psychopaths and discusses how and why Corporate Psychopaths are drawn to corporations as sources of power, prestige and money. The paper suggests that Corporate Psychopaths are a threat to business performance and longevity because they put their own interests before those of the firm. It also discusses how they are a threat to the development of a sense of corporate social responsibility because they have no sense of guilt, shame or remorse about the consequences of their decisions. INTRODUCTION At the 2005 Australasian Business and Behavioural Sciences Association Conference, Professor Sandra Speedy identified the problem of ruthless, dysfunctional managers (Speedy 2005) and their affect on organisations and society. Although Speedy did not name these managers as Corporate Psychopaths the behaviour of some of the managers she described clearly identified them as such and this paper continues that argument. Speedy describes how a ‘morally anchored manager’ could be humble, courageous and compassionate and says that she hopes that it is possible to help create such leaders, however if such leaders are Corporate Psychopaths this will not be possible as discussed in the paper below. Corporate Psychopaths have recently been identified as possible agents of corporate misbehaviour and misconduct and a recent paper (Boddy 2005b) suggests that Corporate Psychopaths are a 30 Volume 1 Issue 2 2005 AJBBS threat to business performance and to corporate social responsibility because they put their own interests before those of the corporation or of society. The concept of Corporate Psychopaths has caught the popular imagination and been reported in the popular press and in business magazines and television programmes including The Australian Broadcasting Commission’s ‘Cat

FAQs

How does the paper define corporate psychopaths?

Corporate psychopaths are characterized as self-serving, opportunistic, ego-centric, ruthless, and shameless people who can also appear charming and manipulative while pursuing ambition and career advancement.

Why does the paper argue corporate psychopaths pose a threat to business and society?

They prioritize their own interests over the firm’s, threatening business performance and longevity, and they undermine corporate social responsibility because they show no sense of guilt, shame, or remorse about decision consequences.

What is the suggested relationship between corporate psychopaths and their ability to advance careers?

They outwardly appear polished and normal while using hidden cunning to manipulate others, which the paper links to an ability to establish a fast-track career in business organisations.

Jul 8, 2026

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