Management styles and innovation

PurposeUsing a sample of about 323 Italian companies and 423 managers from July 2020–March 2021, the work tests hypotheses on reliability of The Open MOOd Questionnaire. Data collected are analyzed by a psychometric model and a latent trait is found. Results are verified and validated. Moreover, external robustness is assured by comparing the Rasch Analysis results with other statistical methods.Design/methodology/approachThe purpose of this paper is to measure the level of openness of managers through the Open MOOd Questionnaire. Which aspects allow us to identify different management styles, and if the “openness” characterizes specific clusters of managers.FindingsThe study shows that the openness attitude in the professional activity of the managers is very high. The Open MOOd Questionnaire can be improved by considering some dichotomic items.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the model proposed identifies the Open Manager’s competencies, and identifies teaching methods for their development.Originality/valueThe authors propose a new model to study openness. Diagnostic tools of consolidated statistical methods show that the Open MOOd Questionnaire is an effective tool to evaluate the openness.