The hierarchical relationships between CEO characteristics, innovation strategy and firm performance in open innovation

Joon Mo Ahn

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2020, vol. 24, issue 1, 31-52

Abstract: Open innovation (OI) has become an important business norm of successful firms; however, its strategic aspects and the role of a key individual, such as a chief executive officer (CEO) in its adoption, have been under-researched. This paper aims to investigate whether OI is relevant to SMEs and how CEO characteristics influence firm performance through OI. The hierarchical relationships between a firm and CEO characteristics are analysed with structural equation modelling (SEM) using data from 401 innovation-oriented SMEs in Korea. The results indicate that: 1) openness can make a greater contribution to firm performance; 2) CEO characteristics are positively associated with openness; 3) government support positively influences both openness and internal R%D. The research suggests that the human elements in SMEs should place a greater emphasis on OI to enhance firm performance and that policy makers should consider developing various programs for key decision makers in SMEs to increase their awareness of OI.

Keywords: open innovation; OI; chief executive officer; CEO; small and medium-sized enterprise; SME; structural equation modelling; SEM. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=105275 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijeima:v:24:y:2020:i:1:p:31-52

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().