Asia bound: shareholder capitalism, corporate psychopathy and psychopathic leadership

Abstract Corporate psychopaths, identifiable as ruthlessly unethical leaders in business, have regularly appeared throughout recent history. However, in this current paper, we explore what may be the World’s earliest identified corporate psychopath operating within a multinational company: the ‘Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie’ (the VOC or Dutch East India Company). As a merchant manager with what is regarded as the World’s first multinational shareholder-owned corporation, Jeronimus Cornelisz assumed command of approximately 200 survivors who were shipwrecked from the flagship Batavia on route to Jakarta. Cornelisz changed the membership of his ruling council of four to appoint his fellow mutinous plotters and thereby guarantee his rule. From the historian Mike Dash’s account and other historical records, it is clear that Jeronimus Cornelisz established an authoritarian, tyrannical form of leadership known as psychopathic leadership. This current paper reviews the events through the lens of a theory of business ethics and leadership called corporate psychopathy theory and identifies Cornelisz as a prototypical primary or corporate psychopath. This extends corporate psychopathy theory historically by showing evidence of corporate psychopathy from 1629. This also gives further insights into the ruthlessness and greed of early European colonial expansion into Asia. Additionally, evidence is provided supporting corporate psychopathy theory by demonstrating the applicability of the idea that corporate psychopaths adopt a common ‘modus operandi’ involving the establishment of a culture of fear across organisations, time and geographies. Findings support corporate psychopathy theory by showing that unethical businesspeople can and do reach senior leadership positions. Additionally, theory is extended by delineating the manner in which these psychopathic leaders defend and maintain their positions. Support is also given by current findings to leadership commentators, from Plato through to Bass and others, who stress the importance of virtue ethics and character for leadership effectiveness and behaviour. This underlines the need for human resource personnel to pay attention to the characters and morals of those selected for senior leadership.