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Competing in Innovation-Intensive Environments: The Role of Soft Power, Learning, and CEO Heuristics

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  • Cristina O. Vlas

    (Management Department, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA)

  • Bruno Barreto de Góes

    (Management Department, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA)

  • Radu E. Vlas

    (Management Information Systems Department, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06050, USA)

  • Eugene See

    (Management and Decision Sciences Department, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29528, USA)

Abstract

We start by exploring how the interplay of soft power and learning levers helps firms address competitive uncertainty in innovation-intensive environments (IIEs). We then theorize that firms’ motivation to pursue a specific combination of soft power and learning tactics in IIEs is shaped by CEO regulatory focus. The analysis of a panel of IIE firms supports our theorizing and reveals that accounting for CEO regulatory focus is elemental to the understanding of firms’ performance heterogeneity in such environments. We conclude that a perspective focused on a combination of soft power and learning tactics is better fitted to explain firms’ performance in environments plagued by extreme uncertainty compared to traditional theoretical lenses. Our main contribution is to the study of performance in innovation-intensive environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina O. Vlas & Bruno Barreto de Góes & Radu E. Vlas & Eugene See, 2024. "Competing in Innovation-Intensive Environments: The Role of Soft Power, Learning, and CEO Heuristics," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:8:p:169-:d:1451505
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Xie, Xuemei & Wang, Mengge, 2025. "Dark side of green subsidies: Do green subsidies to a focal firm crowd out peers’ green innovation?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).

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