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

Abstract

PurposeResearch 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/approachData were collected from 200 respondents from top multinational firms in India covering six sectors, which was analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe 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 implicationsGiven 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/valueThis 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.

The impact of exploitative and organizational learnings on SMEs’ performance: The role of environmental dynamism

“…Exploitative learning can help organizations effectively respond to environmental dynamics by adapting technology as a basis for improving business performance. Previous research conducted by Bashir et al (2023) found that exploitative learning has a correlation in improving business performance. Thus, the first hypothesis is proposed as follows:…”

“…Acquiring current skills and knowledge in business processes and innovation is a major focus on exploitative learning (Bashir et al, 2023;Zhang et al, 2023). According to Bashir et al (2023) exploitative learning encourages organizations to be oriented towards innovation which results in organizational performance. During the exploitation phase, learning and experience become very important in improving organizational performance.…”

Probing the impact of intellectual capital on SME efficiency: the role of business model innovation

“…Similarly, Anwar and Ali Shah (2020) point out that new ventures establish network collaboration with external partners (customers, suppliers and industrial partners) to obtain the essential resources to innovate their BM and reap novel opportunities in turbulent markets. In a similar vein, Bashir et al (2023b) found that managers' human skills and social ties significantly impact the firm's ability to actively innovate their BM to maximize the firm value. Researchers have also demonstrated that IC dimensions promote new product development (Chen et al, 2014).…”

Turning entrepreneurial networks into business model innovation for start-ups

“…Wang et al. (2023) and Bashir et al . (2023) pointed out that network ties as the critical sources for start-ups to gain and use these resources are the external trigger for BMI.…”

“…For example, Dymitrowski and Mielcarek (2023) indicated that the impact of external networks on BMI is undoubtedly worth exploring. and Bashir et al (2023) pointed out that network ties as the critical sources for start-ups to gain and use these resources are the external trigger for BMI. Similarly, Yi et al (2022) argued that BMI should be considered a firm's purposely constructed collaboration network.…”