Innovation in VUCA world: evidence from Tunisian firms in a post-revolution context

Researchers have examined the positive impact of organisational entrepreneurial orientation (OEO) and managerial cognition about environmental changes (MGC) on innovation. However, volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) in today's business environment has affected firms and their innovation-decision. Thus, factors which help innovation to thrive may eventually hamper its performance in such an environment. Assessing 67 Tunisian enterprises following the Jasmine revolution, we examine the VUCA context and the joint impact of organisational and managerial factors on innovation. Our results indicate that OEO and MGC both positively influence innovation performance, but their joint impact is negative. Thus, innovation will be less successful if managers and organisations are either highly or slightly innovation oriented. Consequently, a moderate level of innovativeness leads to higher organisational success in a VUCA environment. Such orientation refers to the first follower strategy, where the firm learns from a first mover's experience, then responds to the environmental changes.