Impact of managerial skills and ties on business model innovation: the role of exploitative and explorative learning

Abstract

Purpose: Research in the area of business model innovation (BMI) has focused on theoretical and exploratory discussions, thereby creating a lack of empirical evidence on the role of top management in BMI. The current study focuses on this research gap and provides empirical evidence by studying the impact of top managers’ managerial skills, managerial ties and entrepreneurial skills on BMI. It also seeks to explore the mediating influence of explorative and exploitative learning. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 200 respondents from top multinational firms in India covering six sectors, which was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings: The findings reveal significant positive relationships of BMI with managerial skills, entrepreneur skills and managerial ties, and these relationships are found to be mediated by exploitative and explorative learning. Practical implications: Given the increasing importance of BMI to organizational success, the study has highlighted that top managers’ skills and ties favorably influence BMI. Organizations can make related investments in training and capacity building by instituting appropriate programs in their organizations. In addition, organizations can exercise caution during recruitment by recruiting and selecting managers in top management teams who excel in managerial skills. Originality/value: This study is one of the few to validate a comprehensive measurement model that highlights the influence of managerial skills, entrepreneur skills and managerial ties on BMI, explaining these associations with the mediating role of exploitative and explorative learning.