Size, R&D productivity and Decision Styles

We extend the size–innovation debate by incorporating decision-making style as a relevant factor in the innovation process. We propose that the size of firms affects the scale and quality of product innovation through the adoption of different decision-making styles. Using the literature on cognition, we conceptualize decision-making style as the degree to which firms rely on analytical information for decision making during the R&D process. Using longitudinal data of Spanish firms, we show that, as firms increase in size, they rely more extensively on analytical decision tools for the innovation activity. Additionally, we show that the size of firms is negatively related to product innovation productivity in terms of scale and positively related to the quality, and that these relationships are mediated by firms’ reliance on analytical decision-making style. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications for innovation research and practice.