Origins of top management intentions to explore and exploit within the context of global climate change

This study models the antecedents that can be used to predict why managers will differ in their intentions to: (1) develop radically new technologies (explore) or (2) incrementally modify the existing technological base (exploit). The model is tested using survey data from 109 firms across 26 industries about managerial intentions to pursue technological change and innovation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in response to the issue of global climate change. Results found that perceptions of control and perceptions of threat were significant predictors of top management intentions to exploit, but perceptions of economic stakeholder beliefs, perceptions of control and perceptions of threat were significant predictors of top management intentions to explore. Industry affiliation, organizational size, and perceptions about social and environmental stakeholder beliefs were not found to be significant predictors of top management intentions to innovate. Results have practical implications and suggest that managers who perceive threats and believe that their firms can control the innovation process may be more likely to innovate. Furthermore, the study affirms that economically oriented stakeholders who possess a clear sense of the broad benefits of exploration are likely to be the most influential stakeholder group that will motivate top managers to make investments in new technologies. Findings have implications for research in strategic management, social psychology and organizational behavior, as well as organizations and the natural environment. It is suggested that forming an empirical basis for top management intentions is a first step toward establishing a clearer link between managerial perceptions and a company's strategic intent to help explain why companies facing similar pressures in the competitive marketplace pursue different choices in their quest for superior performance.