Prof. Dr. Vita Akstinaitė

Vita Akstinaitė
Prof. Dr. Vita Akstinaitė

Vice-Rector for Research and Faculty, Professor

vita.akstinaite@ism.ltORCIDGoogle Scholar

Professor Dr. Vita Akstinaitė is the Vice-Rector for Research and Faculty at ISM University of Management and Economics, Head of the Master’s program „Global Leadership and Strategy” and the ISM Executive Master’s module „Executive Rhetoric and Communication.” She is also a Visiting Researcher at IDIAP Research Institute in Switzerland, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Her previous experience includes working in Columbia University (US), Murdoch University (Australia), and the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK). Prof. Dr. Akstinaitė holds an MSc in Organisational Psychology from King’s College London (UK) and a PhD in Business from the University of Surrey (UK), where she worked on identifying linguistic markers of hubris. Her current research uses innovative research methods, including artificial intelligence, to assess specific aspects of a leader’s behavior or language. Her research focuses on leadership, leader ego, linguistic markers, and the impact of AI on leadership. Prof. Dr. Akstinaitė co-founded The Hubris Hub and Knowledge4Hubris research initiatives, which raise awareness of the leadership hub and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. She has conducted and presented her research internationally, including in the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Greece, Portugal, and other countries.

Awards

  • 2023 – ISM Research Communicator of the Year (Lithuania)
  • 2022 – ISM Researcher of the Year and Science Communication of the Year Awards (Lithuania)
  • 2021 – European Union funding for the research project „Using Artificial Intelligence for Remote Sensing of Leadership Skills” (Lithuania/Switzerland)
  • 2021 – Murdoch University Award for Teaching Excellence (Australia)
  • 2020 – Leverhulme Trust research project funding (UK)
  • 2019 – Winner of the Aspire Award for world-class research conducted in Western Australia (Australia)
  • 2017 – Became a SetSquared Fellow and Higher Education Academy Fellow (England)
  • 2014 – Economic and Social Research Council Funding Award (UK)

Research areas

  • Leadership
  • Executive hubris (ego)
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Linguistic markers (linguistics)

Teaching areas

  • Global Leadership
  • Leadership development
  • Executive communication

Publications

Akstinaitė, V. (2023). Identifying leadership capabilities from language using AI. London: SAGE Publications, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529667677
Akstinaitė, V. (2023). Understanding hubris and heuristics in CEO decision-making: Implications for management. Organizational Dynamics, 52(2) 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2023.100978
Akstinaitė, V., & Sadler Smith, E. (2022). Advancing management research methodologies: Using computational linguistics and machine learning to predict gender from intuition language. In British Academy of Management Conference, 31st August – 2nd September, 1-19
Akstinaitė, V., Antonakis, J., Vlachos, M., & Erne, A. (2022). Charisma is a costly signal. In 5th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium, 5-7 May (pp. 219-219). Mykonos: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium
Akstinaitė, V., Vlachos, M., Erne, A., & Antonakis, J. (2022). Using deep learning to detect leadership ability at-a-distance. In British Academy of Management Conference, 31st August – 2nd September, 1-19
Bilkštytė-Skanė, D., & Akstinaitė, V. (2023). Strategic organizational changes: Adopting datadriven decisions. Strategic Change, 33(2), 107-116. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2566
Karaliūnienė, R., Šumskienė, E., & Akstinaitė, V. (2022). Depiction of mental health issues during Covid-19 pandemic in media: an analysis framework model and a pilot study (the cases of Australia, Germany and Lithuania). Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 2022(1), 7-12. https://doi.org/10.12740/APP/141282
Sadler Smith, E., & Akstinaitė, V. (2022). Did destructive leadership help create the conditions for the spread of Covid-19, and what are the early warning signs? Leadership (Lond), 19(1), 7-26. http://doi.org/10.1177/17427150221104890
Sadler-Smith, E., & Akstinaitė, V. (2021). Human hubris, anthropogenic climate change, and an environmental ethic of humility. Organization & Environment, 35(3), 446–467. https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266211039000
Sadler-Smith, E., & Akstinaitė, V. (2021). Identification of linguistic markers of insight and intuition using computer-assisted text analysis: Brief report. Journal Of Creative Behavior, 56(2), 296-303. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.530
Sinclair, M., Bakken, B. T., Haerem, T., Fuller, R., Vera, D., Samba, C., Williams, D. W., Ferreira Dias, S. E., Iizuka, E. S., Grant, M., Nilsson, F., Hodgkinson, G. P., Akinci, C., Akstinaitė, V., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2023). Intuition in organizations: New theoretical and methodological perspectives: Accessing intuition through linguistic markers. In Academy of Management Proceedings (2023, 1, pp. 1-1). Academy of Management. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2023.10126symposium
Warner-Søderholm, G., Čepėnas, S., Minelgaitė, I., & Akstinaitė, V. (2024). Sustainability-oriented leader, please! Effects of industry on followers’ preferences. Administrative Sciences, 14(3, 46), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14030046
Akstinaite, V. (2016). Do successful adult leaders share common childhood experiences? In P. Garrard, & G. Robinson (Eds.), The Intoxication of Power: Interdisciplinary Insights (pp. 203-228). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Akstinaite, V., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2021). Entrepreneurial hubris. In L. Dana (Ed.), World Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship (2nd ed., pp. 139-144). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Akstinaite, V., Garrard, P., Sadler-Smith, E. (2021). Identifying Linguistic Markers of CEO Hubris: A Machine Learning Approach. British Journal of Management, 33(3), 1163-1178. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12503
Akstinaite, V., Robinson, G., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2020). Linguistic Markers of CEO Hubris. Journal of Business Ethics, 167(4), 687-705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04183-y
Sadler-Smith, E., Akstinaite, V., Robinson, G., Wray, T. (2018). Hubristic leadership: Understanding the hazard and mitigating the risks. Organizational Dynamics, 48(2), 8-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2018.05.007
Sadler-Smith, E., Akstinaite, V., Robinson, G., & Wray, T. (2017). Hubristic leadership: A review. Leadership, 13(5), 525-548
Sadler‐Smith, E., Akstinaite, V., & Akinci, C. (2021). Identifying the linguistic markers of intuition in human resource (HR) practice. Human Resource Management Journal, 32(3), 584-602. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12410
Zickute, I., Varaniute, V., & Akstinaite, V. (2021). Challenges for leaders working in digitalization. In A. Gadeikiene, A. Pundziene & J. Banyte (Eds.), 2021 IEEE International Conference on Technology and Entrepreneurship (ICTE) “Leading digital transformation in business and society”: book of abstracts (p. 55). Kaunas: Technologija
Akstinaitė, V., & Lewis, M. (2024). Hubris occurrence, management and accountability in higher education institutions in Australia. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241261154
Sadler-Smith, E., & Akstinaitė, V. (2024). The canary in the coalmine: Using linguistic markers to identify the early warning signs of hubristic leader behaviours. In The Routledge Critical Companion to Leadership Studies (pp. 344- 360). New York: Routledge
Akstinaitė, V., Thy Jensen, U., Vlachos, M., Erne, A., & Antonakis, J. (2024). Charisma is a costly signal. The Leadership Quarterly, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2024.101810