Raja Nabeel-Ud-Din Jalal

Start-ups in countries increase people’s well-being and help solve social and environmental issues. However, these firms need to grow and survive to produce these advantages. Entrepreneurs sometimes underestimate the difficulty of creating and running start-ups, even if their personality traits can help or harm them in managing start-ups. This article aims to explore the impact of entrepreneurs’ manipulative narcissism on start-ups’ survival and whether the impact of some cultural factors (i.e., uncertainty avoidance and indulgence) can moderate the relationship between entrepreneurs’ manipulative narcissism and the survival of start-ups. The article analyses 343 start-up entrepreneurs located in Italy, France, China, the United States and Denmark using a stepwise ordinary least squares method. Results show that entrepreneurs’ manipulative narcissism negatively affects start-ups’ survival and that uncertainty avoidance acts as a moderator in the above relationship. The article makes important theoretical contributions to the literature on entrepreneurship and cultural dimensions, highlighting even practical contributions for entrepreneurs and policymakers.

The present study examines the relationship between the diverse board of directors and firm performance using a panel data sample of the top 73 EU nonfinancial sustainable firms across 13 countries from 2016 to 2020 based on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). We specifically examine the impact of structural (board independence) and demographical (age, gender, education, tenure and industry experience) board diversity on firm performance. Drawing on the agency and resource base perspective, the results indicate that firms with a diverse board of directors (structural and demographic) perform significantly better with firm performance. Additionally, when viewed through the lens of stakeholder theory, the findings indicate that environmental, social and governance disclosure (ESG) moderates and partially mediates the relationship between the diverse board of directors and firm performance. We also performed robust checks to validate our results. Diversity contributes to a firm's understanding of its market and, as a result, its overall performance. The current study demonstrates a considerable gap between the theoretical and empirical support for various board indicators (structural and demographic), their relationship to performance, and how ESG acts as an intervening element in increasing firm financial performance.