INNOVATION PROCESS, DECISION-MAKING, PERCEIVED RISKS AND METRICS: A DYNAMICS TEST

Abstract

Innovation processes result from a series of decisions and these are influenced by the perceived risks and success metrics faced by the decision-maker. Aiming to understand whether innovation risks and success metrics change during and between innovations, four hypotheses were developed and a questionnaire-based survey was adopted targeting managers of mechanically based manufacturers. Respondents were asked to indicate the importance of perceived risks throughout specific innovations for four domains of risk: marketing, technical, organizational and financial. Respondents were also asked to identify changes in type and magnitude of innovation risk and success metric. Descriptive and statistical tests were conducted to analyse the data. The results suggest that innovation risk changes in type and magnitude during and between innovations and success metrics change in type and magnitude during innovation. This study calls for situation specific research to provide helpful advice to practitioners.