Research to date provides only limited insights into the processes of abusive supervision, a form of unethical leadership. Leaders’ vulnerable narcissism is important to consider, as, according to the trifurcated model of narcissism, it combines entitlement with antagonism, which likely triggers cognitive and affective processes that link leaders’ vulnerable narcissism and abusive supervision. Building on conceptualizations of aggression as a self-regulatory strategy, we investigated the role of internal attribution of failure and shame in the relationship between leaders’ vulnerable narcissism and (...) abusive supervision. We found across three empirical studies with supervisory samples from Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) that vulnerable narcissism related positively to abusive supervision (intentions), and supplementary analyses illustrated that leaders’ vulnerable (rather than grandiose) narcissism was the main driver. Study 1 (N = 320) provided correlational evidence of the vulnerable narcissism-abusive supervision relationship and for the mediating role of the general proneness to make internal attributions of failure (i.e., attribution style). Two experimental studies (N = 326 and N = 292) with a manipulation-of-mediator design and an event recall task supported the causality and momentary triggers of the internal attribution of failure. Only Study 2 pointed to shame as a serial mediator, and we address possible reasons for the differences between studies. We discuss implications for future studies of leaders’ vulnerable narcissism as well as ethical organizational practices. (shrink)

The business, management, and entrepreneurship (BME) education provided by universities is believed to influence the way in which organisations are managed in the business world. In recent decades, it has been criticised for its focus on profit and short-term goals, while new approaches inspired by the humanities, particularly religious and spiritual traditions, have been proposed. Although research in this area is growing, it is scattered. In this study, we systematically review the existing literature to deepen our understanding of this emergent (...) stream of research. From a sample of 216 papers, 51 articles from 1996 to 2023, selected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, are analysed. Overall, the findings highlight that the literature on this topic is predominantly theoretical and suggest that some of the wisdom embedded in religion and spirituality might be considered to inform different discussions in BME courses, with a prominent application of sacred and ancient texts in the teaching of business ethics. Future research avenues are discussed in relation to a variety of themes and pedagogical and empirical approaches that can benefit scholars and advance this area of study. (shrink)