New Perspective of Radical Innovation based on Upper Echelon Theory

This study examines how experience diversity of chief technology officer (CTO) drives radical innovation of the firm, and the moderation effect of group attributes of top management team. Using data of 148 firms in U.S. manufacturing industries, this study finds that a CTO's diverse functional experience increases a firm radicalness, and diverse industrial experience also increases the radicalness. This study also examined the moderating effect of top management team (TMT) characteristics such as TMT size, TMT tenure, and gender composition in TMT. The positive relationship of CTO knowledge diversity and firm radicalness is weakened as TMT size or TMT tenure increased while the relationship is strengthened as gender diversity in TMT increased. These results of the analysis of firm-level radicalness provide implications for both academics and practitioners.