Effect of Risk-taking on Innovative performance of Academic Staff of Federal Universities in North Central Nigeria

The recent climate changes and need for sustainability have influenced the interest of most researchers to focus on how educational institutions could leverage innovative culture to improve innovative performance of academia across the world. The effect of this development, most especially with risk-taking, in terms of funding risky idea (FRI), tolerating failure (TF), pioneering novel methodology (PNM), and motivating exploration (ME) remained unpronounced when compared to other dimensions among the Academic Staff of Federal Universities in the North Central Nigeria. It is on this basis that the current study investigates the effect of risk-taking on innovative performance of Academic Staff of Federal Universities in Nigeria. The result of the analysis of 378 valid responses in the Structural Equation Model (SEM) suggested that risk-taking has a positive and significant effect on discoveries and innovation of the Academic Staff of Federal Universities in North Central, Nigeria. The study recommends that management of Federal Universities in the zone should optimize the use of risk-taking for improving the innovative performance of Academic Staff in the area of discoveries and innovations by paying attention to funding risky ideas, tolerating failure, pioneering unique methodology, and motivating exploration in order to survive the global changing environment.