NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Chief Executive Officer’s Dark Triad Personality and Firm’s Degree of Internationalization
No full textInternationalization decisions stand as a cornerstone of research in the field of international business. Scholars have dedicated nearly five decades to examining the role of decision-makers, specifically strategic actors, in shaping the internationalization strategies of firms. Unlike previous research that primarily examines the relationships and connections decision-makers possess, such as social capital, and their specific knowledge, such as international expertise, this dissertation aims to explore the intricacies of the decision-makers themselves. Who are these influential figures steering firms toward international growth? How do their characteristics shape and drive the internationalization process? This approach aims to bridge the existing gap in the literature by offering a fresh perspective on the personal dimensions of internationalization decision-makers. Specifically, this research examines the understudied realm of Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs’) characteristics, with a particular focus on the dark triad of personality traits, shedding light on how these traits affect CEOs’ decisions in the complex landscape of international business. The dark triad personality encompasses narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, which are known to have both positive and negative implications in various organizational contexts.
This research, grounded in the upper echelons theory and dynamic capabilities view, examines the CEO's dark triad personality and its influence on a firm's internationalization outcomes. First, focusing on the upper echelons theory, which suggests the influence of CEOs’ characteristics on firm-level outcomes, the research explores the direct effects of dark triad personality traits on a firm’s degree of internationalization and ambidexterity. Second, focusing on the dynamic capabilities view, the research examines the indirect effects mediated through ambidexterity, characterized by the pursuit of both exploration and exploitation. Cultivating a firm’s
dynamic capabilities to navigate complex international markets effectively necessitates a balance between exploitation and exploration.
This research comprises two studies aimed at examining the aforementioned relationships. Study 1 focuses on CEOs of firms in the United Kingdom and the United States, with data collected through the Prolific platform. The second study aims to extend the findings of the first study by testing the same hypotheses in a similar cultural context. Conducting a second study can help replicate and validate the findings of the first study, thereby increasing the explanatory power and generalizability of the results. Study 2 encompasses CEOs from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia. For this study, data were collected by emailing CEOs and inviting them to participate, with the majority of participants being from Ireland, with a smaller representation from the United Kingdom and Australia.
Both Studies 1 and 2 utilize a quantitative research approach, analyzing survey data to examine the proposed relationships. In Study 1, the results of hypothesis testing provided support for all four hypotheses. Firstly, it was found that there is a positive and significant relationship between the CEO's dark triad personality and a firm's degree of internationalization. Secondly, the study showed a positive and significant relationship between the CEO’s dark triad personality and ambidexterity. Thirdly, the study demonstrated a positive and significant relationship between ambidexterity and a firm's degree of internationalization. Lastly, ambidexterity was found to mediate the relationship between the CEO's dark triad personality and a firm's degree of internationalization.
The results of Study 2 fail to substantiate the direct relationship between the CEO's dark triad personality and a firm’s degree of internationalization. While Study 2 did establish a positive and significant connection between ambidexterity and the degree
of internationalization, it did not find a significant relationship between the CEO's dark triad personality and ambidexterity. In contrast to Study 1, ambidexterity does not mediate the relationship between the CEO's dark triad personality and a firm's degree of internationalization. However, further examination of Study 2 revealed that dark triad CEOs tend to prioritize and engage in exploitation activities initially. Subsequently, these CEOs are more likely to engage in exploration activities, which in turn contribute to enhancing the firm's degree of internationalization.
The findings of this dissertation have several research and practical implications. Theoretically, they contribute to understanding how CEO dark triad personality traits shape firm internationalization behaviors, shedding light on the interplay between individual characteristics, ambidexterity, and firm-level outcomes. The research also extends the literature on the intersection of upper echelons theory and dynamic capabilities in the context of international business. Practically, the dissertation offers valuable insights for practitioners and decision-makers involved in international business operations. By recognizing the potential positive aspects of a CEO's dark triad personality, firms can strategically leverage specific traits. These traits include assertiveness, self-confidence, boldness, risk-taking, and strategic thinking. Such characteristics may help firms navigate complex international environments, foster innovation, and seize opportunities for growth and expansion. Moreover, the findings highlight the importance of fostering exploitation and exploration (ambidextrous) capabilities within small firms. Overall, the findings of this research present opportunities for future studies to expand upon and develop existing knowledge
Minorities at War, Part 1: State Policies in Times of Conflict
No full textThis short introduction provides an overview for the first part of the special issue of ‘Minorities at War’. The issue’s overarching theme explores how periods of conflict influenced the relationship between minority groups in Central and Eastern Europe and their respective host states during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The articles featured are based on contributions originally presented at the BASEES Study Group for Minority History’s second official biennial symposium, ‘Minorities at War from Napoleon to Putin’, which was held at the New Europe College in Bucharest, Romania from 11-12 May 2023
Intersectional and Decolonial Perspectives on an Incorporeal Materialism: Towards an Elemental Philosophy of Art Education
No full textConsidering art and its educative potentials as a living experiment with the body's elemental constitution and modes of organisation, this article engages water, earth, air, and fire as milieus through which a body learns to sense, move, and act in the world differently. This leads to a series of propositions for an elemental philosophy of arts education, which recognises the intersectional and decolonial potentials of bodies, and strives to amplify and proliferate these potentials through creative pedagogic practices. If, as Elizabeth Grosz (2017) proposes, “the chain of evolutionary emergence is unbroken not only materially but also conceptually” (p. 250), then arts education offers an expression of the body's incorporeal and material potentials as they change and evolve through time. Further to this position, we argue that arts education has the potential to radically reframe relationships with water, earth, air, and fire in ways that resist their co-option as tools of colonialism and intersecting categories of oppression
Dynamic gait switching for Hexapod Robots
No full textHexapod robots exhibit superior navigation capabilities on rough and unmodified terrains, but gait control and switching are complex. This paper describes a novel gait library approach that allows for dynamic gait switching that facilitates faster gait transitions, rapid response to limb loss, and flexible configuration for different hexapods. The gait library is validated on the open-source H.O.R.E.A. platform in terms of gait switching times and rapid response to loss of a limb. The gait switching is relative to the swing speed, resulting in a fast response time. Additionally, the gait manager adapts to the loss of one or two limbs, resulting in an approximate 23% drop in speed with each leg removed, except for the wave gait, which showed an increase of around 10% for each leg
Revisiting excitation force estimation in WECs: On the (mis)use of structure-based estimation approaches
No full textWave excitation force (torque) estimators, vital in wave energy systems, generally combine the nominal
representation of a wave energy converter (WEC) with an excitation force (perturbation) model. Thus, this
model-based estimation approach, grounded in the internal model principle, often employs two perturbation
models: (i) the harmonic oscillator structure, prevalent in literature, assuming sinusoidal signals; and (ii) the
integrator (random walk) scheme, assuming unit step-like signals. These models comprehensively represent
a specific family of estimators, as discussed in this study. However, both models may struggle to capture
the irregular (stochastic) nature of ocean waves. This study challenges the prevailing assumption that the
harmonic oscillator structure, selected for its resemblance to ocean wave oscillations, is inherently the optimal
choice. This study provides a rigorous discussion on convergence conditions. Thus, is shown that, while the
harmonic oscillator can be highly effective under specific conditions, the random walk structure, despite
its simplicity, can surpass the performance of the harmonic oscillator scheme. Formal proofs support this
argument, emphasising the effectiveness of the harmonic oscillator can be guaranteed with periodic signals
Climate Justice and the University. Shaping a Hopeful Future for All.
No full textA radical exploration of how higher education can advance transformative climate justice.
Amid the worsening climate crisis and intensifying inequities, higher education can play a powerful role in addressing the intersecting crises facing humanity. Institutions of higher education hold untapped potential to advance social justice and reduce climate injustices. However, universities are not yet structured to accelerate social change for the public good. In Climate Justice and the University, Jennie Stephens reimagines the potential of higher education to advance human well-being and promote ecological health.
Drawing on over thirty years of experience working on the climate crisis within higher education, Stephens offers a provocative and pathbreaking vision of how higher education can accelerate the shift toward more equitable, healthy, and stable futures for all. Building on a US and European context, she integrates examples from the innovative landscape of transformative education initiatives around the world.
With climate chaos exacerbating instability of all kinds, reimagining the transformative power of higher education is hopeful and empowering. By inviting readers to collectively reimagine different priorities and structures within higher education, Stephens disrupts long-held assumptions about how universities advance learning and research, suggesting possibilities to shape a more equitable future for all
Social Rights under Article 2(1) of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland
No full textThe impact of Brexit upon the protection of social rights has received comparatively little attention, both in the public media and the academic literature. Social progress achieved on the island of Ireland since the conclusion of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement can be seen as a product of that Agreement and Irish and British European Union (EU) membership – the former has generated the stability necessary for citizens to enjoy the opportunities and protection afforded by the latter. Brexit has put this social progress at risk and has already led to rights backsliding in social contexts. However, the mechanism created by the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland to address diminutions of rights flowing from Brexit – article 2(1) – is not, we contend, suitable for preventing diminutions in social rights. We demonstrate in this article that the test for breach of article 2(1) focuses on specific breaches of individual rights and therefore does not cover situations in which regression in rights protection cannot be tied empirically to individual circumstances. The enjoyment of social rights on the island of Ireland is often facilitated by horizontally applicable EU law, and changes in levels of protection of social rights are often best observed at the population level over time. Using several case studies, we demonstrate how social rights backsliding on the island of Ireland that is attributable wholly or mainly to Brexit likely cannot be litigated through the application of article 2(1) of the Protocol, and we reflect upon the inadequacy of this situation
Keltische (und rätische?) Personennamen in der vorrömischen Onomastik der Schweiz
No full textDer vorliegende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über das in vernakulären Inschriften der
Eisenzeit bezeugte Personennamengut der Schweiz mit Fokus auf die cisalpin-keltischen Inschriften der Südschweiz und diskutiert zwei mit diesem Material in Zusammenhang stehende Themen: die mögliche Präsenz sprachlich rätischer Elemente, und
die mutmaßlichen Unterschiede zwischen lepontischer und gallischer Personennamenbildung.
1 Ausgeklammert bleiben vorrömisches Namenmaterial in römischen Inschriften sowie Götter- und Ortsnamen. Ebenfalls beiseite bleiben müssen aus Platzgründen
die auf Schweizer Boden gefundenen vorrömischen Münzlegenden
From beginning to mature: investigating the development of teacher community through Lesson Study
No full textThis research investigates the potential of Lesson Study to develop teachers’
professional community. Situated in two case study schools, Doone and Crannog
(both pseudonyms), where mathematics teachers participated in multiple, successive
cycles of Lesson Study over the course of one academic year, the research details
the development of teacher community through teachers’ conversations and
reflections. Data was generated through audio recordings of teachers’ Lesson Study
meetings and individual interviews with participating teachers. Analysis is based on
a framework of professional teacher community which describes discrete phases
of development from beginning to mature. Findings from the research suggest
that groups of teachers may begin their Lesson Study work at different stages of
evolution of teacher community and that Lesson Study has the potential to strength
and develop such community over successive cycles. The research demonstrates
that teachers’ participation in Lesson Study can provide them with opportunities to
recognize and express communal responsibility for individual growth of colleagues,
a key feature in the formation of teacher community. The research also highlights
the importance of navigating fault lines or differences in ideas and opinions during
the Lesson Study work. Findings may offer guidance to facilitators of Lesson Study
on elements of teachers’ collaborative work which may benefit from additional
focus, such as productively engaging with conflict within a group. This research
contributes to the literature on Lesson Study in outlining how this model of
professional development may provide a powerful structure within which teacher
community can be developed
PatentsInHumans Project examining the potential impact of patents on access to health
No full textThe April edition of the Law Society Gazette in Ireland features as its cover story an article written by Professor Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator, PatentsInHumans project) which examines the potential impacts that patents can have on access and delivery of health-related technologies, such as medicines, diagnostics, elements of vaccines etc. The article also outlines how such issues (amongst others) will be examined as part of the European Research Council funded PatentsInHumans project