The role of management involvement in innovation

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the current study is to investigate the role of management involvement in innovation and its relationships with organizational, technical and marketing innovations. Organizational innovation, which features both administrative and human capital innovation, is introduced as the intermediate construct to test its indirect effects on the influences of management involvement on technical and marketing innovations.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 196 respondents to an online questionnaire that was sent to 2,500 potential participants randomly selected from electronics manufacturing firms across China. Structural equation model using AMOS 18 was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe findings reveal that management involvement has a positive and significant impact on all dimensions of innovation featured. It is also found that organizational innovation has a mediating effect on the association between management involvement and technical innovation, though no such effect can be found in the relationship between management involvement and marketing innovation.Research limitations/implicationsSince the study is quantitative using data emanating from the electronics manufacturing industry in China, further empirical study would be useful to verify and complement the results in other industries and other countries.Practical implicationsThe findings show that management involvement appears to exert permeating impacts on all strata of innovation, presenting a reminder to practitioners and researchers that clear senior management direction, endorsement and support are essential to innovation pursuits.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the body of knowledge relating to innovation and innovation decisions. By investigating the interrelationships between management involvement and the various dimensions of innovation featured, the study identifies and charts the casual chains that can be used to guide innovation decisions.