Characteristics of Risk Taking Executives

Kenneth R. MacCrimmon and Donald A. Wehrung
Additional contact information
Kenneth R. MacCrimmon: Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Y8
Donald A. Wehrung: Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Y8

Management Science, 1990, vol. 36, issue 4, 422-435

Abstract: More than 500 top-level business executives were studied to ascertain the validity of common stereotypes of who takes risks and who avoids risks. We began with 13 risk measures based on theoretical grounds, naturally occurring situations, and attitudes. These measures were formed into seven consolidated measures using factor analysis. Data were gathered on numerous socio-economic variables including ones relating to personal, financial, and professional characteristics. When these characteristics were subjected to factor analysis, four main factors emerged. Linear discriminant analysis was used to address the question of whether risk takers can be differentiated from risk averters. The results were surprisingly clearcut. The most successful executives were the biggest risk takers; the most mature executives were the most risk averse.

Keywords: risky decisions; risk characteristics; stereotypes; executives; success; discriminant analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (119)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.36.4.422 (application/pdf)

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:inm:ormnsc:v:36:y:1990:i:4:p:422-435

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Management Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().