The effects of external knowledge search and CEO tenure on product innovation: evidence from Chinese firms

摘要

This article examined the effects of knowledge search breadth and CEO tenure on success in product innovation. Building on knowledge search literature and attention-based theory, the study posited that the breadth of a firm's external knowledge search has a curvilinear effect on its product innovation success. It further proposed competing predictions about the moderating role of CEO tenure in the relationship. Data on a sample of 1262 Chinese firms across multiple industries provided robust support for the bell-shaped effect of external search breadth. Longer CEO tenure was shown to strengthen the relationship such that firms led by long-serving CEOs gained more innovation benefits from broad technology search than those led by new CEOs.