Unraveling the link between managerial risk-taking and innovation: The mediating role of a risk-taking climate

Ana García-Granero (1, 2) , Óscar Llopis (3, 1) , Anabel Fernández-Mesa (1, 4) , Joaquín Alegre (3)

1 INGENIO - Instituto de Gestión de la Innovación y del Conocimiento = Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management
2 MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique
3 GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée
4 Departament de Direcció d'Empreses

Scholars have proposed that taking risks in organizations is important for explaining innovation performance. Scholars traditionally have analyzed this link from two unconnected perspectives. From a managerial perspective, entrepreneurial orientation and leadership theories have been used to explain the positive relation between risk taking and innovation. From an employee perspective, creativity theory suggests that a risk-taking climate helps to explain innovative behaviors. However, there is little empirical research analyzing this link. This study examines the possibility of a connection between managers’ risk-taking propensities, employees’ risk-taking climate, and innovation performance. To do so, we test a quantitative model where the impact of the manager’ risk-taking propensity on innovation is mediated by its effect on employees’ risk-taking climate. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research hypotheses on a data set of 182 firms from the Spanish and Italian ceramic tile industry.

Mots clés: Innovation performance; managers´ risk-taking; risk-taking climate; signaling theory; social cognitive theory

Domaines: Gestion et management

Ana García-Granero, Óscar Llopis, Anabel Fernández-Mesa, Joaquín Alegre. Unraveling the link between managerial risk-taking and innovation: The mediating role of a risk-taking climate. Journal of Business Research, 2015, 68 (5), pp.1094-1104. ⟨10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.10.012⟩. ⟨hal-01137650⟩