Prof. Ralf Wilden (Macquarie Business School, Sydney, Australia)
Datum: Dienstag, 4. Juli
Zeit: 10:00 - 12:00
Ort: Ludwigstr. 28 RG/III, Raum 329
Titel: Who Should I Listen To In Radical Innovation Project Choice? Investigating CEO Decision Making
Abstract: Little research has investigated how CEOs seek advice from other senior executives in radical innovation decision-making. In this study, we use data from three studies—two experiments and a survey—to investigate how conflicting advice from Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) affects CEOs’ radical innovation project choices. We then assess whether seeking advice from CTOs and CMOs affects radical innovation performance under different levels of market and technological uncertainty. Our results indicate that CEOs are more likely to choose radical innovation projects that are supported by the CTO. Further, given differences in CMO vs. CTO advice, we find that when a radical innovation project is characterized by high technological uncertainty, CEOs are more likely to choose radical innovation projects that the CTO supports, even if the CMO does not. On the contrary, we do not find that CEOs’ radical innovation decisions are affected by CMOs’ supporting advice when an innovation project faces high market uncertainty. Finally, the positive effect of CEO external advice seeking on firms’ radical innovation performance is strengthened if the CEO seeks advice from the CMO (CTO) under high market (technological) uncertainty. Important contributions emerge from our study as detailed in the concluding section.