The Relationship between Alumni Network and Exploratory Innovation: The Mediating Role of Enterprise Risk-Taking

Mengxing Song (), Lingling Guo () and Jianwei Shen
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Mengxing Song: Management and Business School, North China University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China
Lingling Guo: Management and Business School, North China University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China
Jianwei Shen: Management and Business School, North China University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: In an increasingly open innovation environment, executives, as the core of corporate management and the main body of decision-making and execution, play a significant role in implementing innovation-driven development strategies. Based on executives’ educational background, we constructed an executive alumni network platform using data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2019, and calculated the centrality indicators. The aim was to comprehensively explore the relationship between alumni networks and exploratory innovation in enterprises, and examine the mediating effect of enterprise risk-taking. Empirical results show that executive academic background networks can promote the development of exploratory innovation activities in enterprises. In other words, these networks provide the social relationships and trust foundation necessary to support innovation effectively. Enterprise risk-taking plays a mediating role in the relationship between alumni networks and exploratory innovation, underscoring the importance of risk-taking. Further research reveals that alumni networks have a significant positive impact on the sustainability of innovation, emphasizing the long-term value for corporate innovation. These findings demonstrate that alumni networks play a critical role in corporate innovation activities and provide theoretical support for advancing research in corporate innovation and sustained development.

Keywords: executive; executive alumni network; enterprise risk-taking; exploratory innovation; the mediating effect; innovation sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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