Which executive characteristics influence risk-taking behaviours: evidence from Taiwanese companies

ABSTRACT

Drawing on motivation and behavioural theories, this study develops a three-way interactive model to examine the antecedents and moderators regarding chief executive officer (CEO) risk-taking. Our sample consists of 136 observations of Taiwanese firms from primary and secondary sources. Using hierarchical regression analysis, we confirm that the relationship between CEO shareholdings and CEO risk-taking is positively moderated by approach orientation but negatively moderated by avoidance orientation. Furthermore, firm complexity strengthens the positive moderating effect of approach orientation.

KEYWORDS:

• Taiwan
• Motivational orientation
• CEO shareholdings
• approach/avoidance
• performance feedback
• risk taking

Acknowledgements

We thank reviewers for their helpful comments and Dr Rong Ma for her suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. We also acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST 107-2410-H-025-017-MY2).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yen-Chih Huang

Yen-Chih Huang is Associate Professor in the Department of International Business, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan (ROC). His major research interests include organizational learning, new product development and entrepreneurship. His articles are published in journals such as Strategic Management Journal, International Business Review, International Journal of Project Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Management Decision and Journal of High Technology Management Research.

Yang-Chieh Chin

Yang-Chieh Chin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Administration, Chihlee University of Technology, Taiwan (ROC). His major research interests include strategic management, knowledge translation and social networking. He has published articles in several journals, such as Technovation, Journal of Knowledge Management, Internet Research and others.

Cheng-Yu Lee

Cheng-Yu Lee is Professor in the Department of Industrial Management and Information, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology. He received his Doctorate in Business Administration from National Cheng Kung University. Currently an educator and a researcher in the field of technology and innovation management, he is interested in innovation strategies. His publications have appeared in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Technology Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Technovation and others.