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The Decision to Exploit an R&D Project: Divergent Thinking across Middle and Senior Managers
Author(s) -
Behrens Judith,
Ernst Holger,
Shepherd Dean A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/jpim.12085
Subject(s) - competitor analysis , exploit , middle management , context (archaeology) , portfolio , senior management , project portfolio management , business , marketing , knowledge management , test (biology) , project management , management , economics , computer science , finance , paleontology , computer security , biology
Research and development ( R&D ) generates projects, but the question often remains: which projects should be exploited? Building on the innovation, strategy, and managerial cognition literatures, we use a conjoint field experiment to collect data on 4032 decisions made by 126 R&D managers to test how project attributes, strategic context, and managers' characteristics influence innovation exploitation decisions. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we find that (1) experience impacts project exploitation decision policies of middle managers more than senior managers, (2) divergent thinking across middle and senior managers increases with experience, and (3) experienced middle managers diverge from experienced senior managers in their decisions to exploit opportunities by placing greater emphasis on strategic context (relative to competitors and fit within the portfolio) and lesser emphasis on uncertainty (technological and demand). These findings have implications for the strategy and innovation literature.