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Inaugural Lecture by Tine Buyl: Behavior of CEOs and strategic leaders of great influence on organizational resilience

Published: 26th February 2024 Last updated: 01st March 2024

Characteristics such as narcissism and greed of CEOs and strategic leaders have a significant impact on the resilience of an organization. This also applies to the relationships between the CEO and their environment, such as with the top management team and the board of directors. Professor Tine Buyl argues this in her inaugural lecture, as she assumes her ‘Strategy, Strategic Leadership, and Organizational Resilience’ chair at Tilburg University.

“CEOs are increasingly confronted with pressure from policymakers, investors, or employees to pursue a certain strategic course. The way a strategic leader deals with this pressure has a huge influence on the functioning and resilience of an organization,” says Prof. Tine Buyl in her lecture. With her research, she focuses on the influence of the behavior and characteristics of CEOs. She also studies the composition and dynamics of top management teams and their effects on the processes and results of organizations.

Impact of CEO behavior extends beyond their own organization

Prof. Buyl investigated the impact of traits such as narcissism and greed among CEOs on the resilience of organizations. Her research shows, for example, that greedy CEOs not only neglect the interests of shareholders but also invest less in MVO. Companies led by greedy CEOs before the global financial crisis in 2008 also experienced more severe consequences of the crisis. Buyl emphasizes the relevance of studying the consequences of the behavior of strategic leaders. “CEOs bear not only a significant responsibility for their own organization but also for society, given the potential societal consequences of strategic choices, such as downplaying sustainability issues.”

Research agenda for the new chair

In the context of her new chair, Buyl aims to deepen the study of the influence of CEOs’ characteristics, such as the effect of the importance CEOs attach to the past, present and future in considering (strategic) decisions, and the effect of CEOs’ digital skills. Additionally, she wants to use more innovative research designs, such as serious games. Although she mainly focuses on the impact of the CEO as the primary decision-maker and strategic leader, she will also examine the relationships between CEOs and other strategic decision-makers, such as executives in the top management team, the board of directors, or other stakeholders within her chair. “I want to increase the understanding of the complex relationships between strategic leadership and organizational resilience.”

Inaugural speech

Prof. dr. Tine Buyl will deliver her inaugural speech on Friday, March 1, at 4:15 p.m. in the auditorium of Tilburg University, under the title Organizational Resilience: The Role of Strategic Leadership in a Relational Perspective. With this, she takes on the position of professor of Strategy, Strategic Leadership, and Organizational Resilience at the Department of Organization Studies at Tilburg University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Registration for attendance to the inaugural speech can be done via this link. The speech can also be followed via a livestream.

  • Tine Buyl

    Prof. Tine Buyl

    professor of Strategy, Strategic Leadership, and Organizational Resilience at the Department of Organization Studies, TSB

    Tine (P.L.) Buyl is a professor of Strategy, Strategic Leadership, and Organizational Resilience at the Department of Organization Studies at Tilburg University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She holds a MSc in Business Engineering (2005) and a Ph.D. in Business Economics (2011), both from the University of Antwerp. She then worked for four years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp. Both her Ph.D. and postdoc were funded by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek — Flanders. She joined Tilburg University in 2015 as a tenure track assistant professor at the Department of Organization Studies, obtained a permanent position in April 2019, was promoted to associate professor in July 2020, and to full professor in April 2023.

    During her time at Tilburg University, she has taught various courses in the field of strategy and organization at different levels (bachelor, master, research master, and executives). She is also the academic director of the bachelor’s and master’s programs in Organization and Management Sciences and a member of the board of the Department of Organization Studies. Her research focuses on the behavior and characteristics of Chief Executive Officers, as well as on the composition and dynamics of top management teams and their effects on organizational processes and results. Her work has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Long Range Planning, and the Leadership Quarterly.

    She is an active member of the academic community and serves as co-organizer and member of the scientific community of EIASM workshops on top management teams and research on business strategies, and is a representative of the Strategic Leadership division of the Strategic Management Society.

Note for the press

For questions or interview requests, please contact Prof. Tine Buyl via t.p.l.buyl@tilburguniversity.edu of via persvoorlichter Simone Schuilwerve, s.h.schuilwerve@tilburguniversity.edu, of +3113 4668 596.