Commitment to innovation: the impact of top management team characteristics

Many organizational and environmental factors influence a firm's commitment to innovation. Among the organizational factors, the perceptual lens of th e top management team and the team's dynamics are posited to have a signifi cant direct impact on the firm's commitment to innovation. This study revis its the classic arguments of Hayes and Abernathy and empirically examines s everal of their propositions. The results clearly indicate a positive relat ionship between the technical orientation of the TMT/CEO and above-average R&D intensity. This effect remains even after controlling for the impact of performance in prior periods and firm diversification. Overall, these resu lts suggest that establishing a high level of commitment to innovation will be promoted or impeded in many organizations because of the predisposition s of the CEO and top management team.