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This paper analyses and benchmarks the performance of the general and health Insurance companies in India, considering their production, capital allocation and investment efficiencies as three distinct stages.

A three stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology has been used with three years of data of the health and general insurance companies.

In addition to production and investment efficiencies, the capital allocation efficiency of an insurance firm significantly impacts its financial performance. The study shows that notwithstanding the efficiency scores in production and investment, general insurance firms with superior capital allocation efficiencies are the ones that have been able to translate their efficiencies into better business performance.

The study provides deeper understanding of the importance of capital allocation decisions and its linkages to production and investment efficiencies to help insurance firms to make better operational and financial decisions. The standalone health insurance players in spite of their reasonably high capital allocation efficiency scores have not been able to translate their efficiencies into superior financial performance.

While the existing literature at best has only considered production and investment decisions as the two stages, the present study has added another stage relating to the allocation of financial resources of the insurance firms. The paper is also distinct in terms of its analysis of linkages between efficiency scores of the three different stages with key financial performance measures.

This study investigates the intricate relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance, focusing on the Indonesian business context. Leveraging upper-echelons theory, the research posits that CEO narcissism significantly predicts both CSR initiatives and firms' financial performance. Additionally, it explores CSR as a potential mediator in the link between CEO narcissism and financial performance, with particular focus on the CEO’s involvement in recommending CSR activities.

A sample of 644 observations was analyzed, revealing that narcissistic CEOs tend to lead firms with higher CSR engagement, which in turn is positively related to financial performance as measured by Tobin’s Q.

Regression models indicate that while CEO narcissism directly related to firm performance, the inclusion of CSR as a variable significantly strengthens this relationship. The indirect association analysis further confirms that CSR mediates the relationship between CEO narcissism on firm performance.

These findings contribute to the literature by elucidating the dual relationship of CEO narcissism on organizational outcomes and by highlighting the role of CSR in enhancing financial performance. This study also underscores the importance of considering cultural and institutional contexts in understanding the dynamics between executive personality traits and corporate strategies.