Dataset for the study of CEO self-monitoring in organizations

We propose an unobtrusive measure of the self-monitoring of chief executive officers (CEOs) and examine its effect on firms’ innovation strategy and performance. A dataset of 220 CEOs of 108 U.S.-based firms operating in innovation-intensive industries between 1998 and 2018 show that CEOs’ self-monitoring positively associates with their firms’ innovation strategy fluctuation and mildness, and it stimulates innovation performance quality and extremeness. The results suggest that high self-monitoring CEOs favor innovation strategies that change significantly over time, but which tend to align with the innovation strategies of other firms in their innovation space. The findings further show that in innovation-intensive industries, high self-monitoring CEOs’ firms perform better than low self-monitoring CEOs’ firms, and their performance level tends to stem farther away from other innovation-intensive firms. Our main contribution is to the understanding of how CEOs’ self-monitoring personality affects firms’ innovation-related strategic choices and performance.

本研究提出了一种针对首席执行官（Chief Executive Officers，CEOs）自我监控特质的非介入性测量方法，并检验了该特质对企业创新战略与经营绩效的影响。本研究分析了1998年至2018年间，108家美国本土创新密集型行业企业的220位首席执行官所构成的数据集，结果显示：首席执行官的自我监控特质与企业创新战略的波动程度及温和性呈显著正相关，同时能够正向提升企业创新绩效的质量与极端性。研究结果表明，高自我监控特质的首席执行官偏好随时间发生显著变化的创新战略，但此类战略往往会与其所在创新领域内其他企业的创新战略保持契合。进一步的分析结果显示，在创新密集型行业中，由高自我监控特质首席执行官执掌的企业，其经营绩效显著优于低自我监控特质首席执行官执掌的企业，且该类企业的绩效水平往往与同行业其他创新密集型企业的绩效水平差距更为显著。本研究的主要贡献在于深化了对首席执行官自我监控人格如何影响企业创新相关战略选择与经营绩效的认知。