Title: Taking innovators to the top

Authors: Pryscilla Aparecida Vaz de Oliveira; Mario Sergio Salerno

Addresses: Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, Av. Professor Luciano Gualberto, 1380, 05508-010 São Paulo – SP, Brazil ' Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, Av. Professor Luciano Gualberto, 1380, 05508-010 São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Abstract: Strategic innovation is crucial for sustainable competitive advantage, but its intrinsic nature causes many dismissals. While expert leadership tends to perform better in innovation, innovation managers struggle to ascend to top- management positions. This paper aims to verify how this formula is equalised in two different realities, the most innovative companies in the world and Brazil, by analysing the CEOs' career in the most innovative companies to verify to what extent they have an innovation background from 2016 to 2020 and how it was deployed. The results present a low, but growing representativeness of innovative CEOs in worldwide companies, indicating that top world companies are starting to perceive innovation capability as crucial for strategic positions. Companies have to support the creation of an innovation business function, be aware of their decision-making processes and have suitable HR practices for innovators. Having innovative leadership is essential to overcome obstacles and improve performance.

Keywords: strategic innovation; radical innovation; breakthrough innovation; disruptive innovation; innovation management career; CEO career; TMT career; human resource practices; innovation expertise.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2024.139231

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2024 Vol.34 No.3, pp.370 - 394

Received: 08 Apr 2021
Accepted: 18 Jul 2021
Published online: 28 Jun 2024 *

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