Dark Triad Traits in Leaders

📌 Key facts

🙏  This thesis examines how Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) in leaders shape team dynamics, organizational outcomes, and potential risks. The goal is to identify mechanisms, moderators, and possible interventions to better understand and manage the influence of leaders with such traits.

• When: Start anytime. Applications are open!
• How to apply: Send your CV, transcript of records, and a short statement of research interest (details below).

• 📌 Key facts
• 💡 Background
• 🦾Who We Are
• 🎯 Topics of Interest and Potential Outcomes
• 🎓 Profile
• 📝 How to Apply

💡 Background

The Dark Triad has received growing attention in leadership and organizational research. While these traits can be linked to charisma and short-term effectiveness, they also pose risks to trust, ethics, and team performance. Open research questions include what interventions or governance structures can mitigate negative effects.

🦾Who We Are

The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organisations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams.. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organisations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.

🎯 Topics of Interest and Potential Outcomes

• Interventions: Feedback and coaching, organizational design, governance mechanisms, selection and placement strategies
• Moderators & Contexts: Start-ups vs. established firms; crises and uncertainty; governance and incentive structures; team diversity (personality, gender)

Potential outcomes:

• Systematic literature review
• Empirical study

🎓 Profile

• Strong interest in leadership research, organizational behavior, and team/organizational dynamics
• Strong academic track record
• Reliable, structured, and self-driven working style

📝 How to Apply

If you are interested, please contact Nathalie Schenk by submitting your CV, grade report, preferred starting date & short motivation statement.

Please also indicate which kind of thesis (= outcome) you are interested in.