Title: Top management and organisational innovation: review and future directions

Authors: Michael L.A. Hsu, Maggie Hui-Fen Chen, Binshan Lin

Addresses: National Chengchi University, No. 64, Sec. 2, ZhiNan Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City 11605, Taiwan, ROC. ' National Chengchi University, No. 64, Sec. 2, ZhiNan Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City 11605, Taiwan, ROC. ' College of Business Administration, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71115, USA

Abstract: This study reviews the relevant literature on the relation between top management and the organisational innovation based on 21 empirical studies. This study found that: (1) Top management directly influence organisational innovation via characteristics, leadership and behaviour of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Top Management Team (TMT); (2) Top management influence organisational innovation via mediators. The first mediator is strategic decision or choice made by CEO/TMT. The second is the outcomes of top management. Meanwhile, commitment, communication and involvement of CEO/TMT can serve as mediators between organisational activities and organisational innovation; (3) Three levels of variables moderate the relationship between top management and organisational innovation, the first is the social level, including social–cultural context, culture and technological dynamism; the second is the organisational level, e.g. the novelty of business; the third is the group level, including interfunctional coordination of TMT and managerial creativity of TMT.

Keywords: administrative innovation; leadership; organisational innovation; technological innovation; top management team; TMT; Chief Executive Officer; CEO; mediators.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2008.018047

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2008 Vol.5 No.5, pp.533 - 556

Published online: 28 Apr 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article