How does CEO curiosity affect firm innovation?

Zhidi Liu, Jia Li and Xiao Zhang

Technovation, 2023, vol. 127, issue C

Abstract: In the present study, we introduce CEO curiosity as a new personality dimension of CEOs to explain corporate strategy. Prior research has implied that CEO curiosity may play a critical role in firm innovation. However, exploration linking curiosity at the executive level to organizational innovation is surprisingly lacking. To this end, we aim to examine the impact of CEO curiosity on firm innovation. Based on a sample of 563 Chinese firms, we found that CEO curiosity positively influences firm innovation via boundary-spanning search, while organizational inertia weakens both the direct effect of CEO curiosity on boundary-spanning search and its indirect effect on firm innovation. With this study we contribute to both the upper echelons theory and the microfoundation of innovation and offer new insights into the study of curiosity by unveiling the understudied but important role of CEO curiosity in firm innovation.

Keywords: CEO curiosity; Firm innovation; Boundary-spanning search; Organizational inertia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:techno:v:127:y:2023:i:c:s0166497223001591

DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102848

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