Disentangling the effects of risk taking on innovation performance, the present study separated, both theoretically and empirically, the effects of the managers? risk-taking propensity and the employees? perceived risk-taking climate. Specifically, we hypothesize and test a model where the impact of the manager? risk-taking propensity on innovation performance is mediated by its effect over the employees? perceived risk-taking climate. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses on a data set of 182 firms from the Spanish and Italian ceramic tile industry. As expected, results indicated that employees´ perceived risk-taking climate plays a significant role in determining the effects of managerial risk taking on innovation performance.

Trabajo presentado a la 35th DRUID Celebration Conference on Innovation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship celebrada en Barcelona (España) del 17 al 19 de Junio de 2013.

Peer reviewed