How TMT diversity influences open innovation: an empirical study on biopharmaceutical firms in China

Despite the significant impact of top management team (TMT) upon innovation, few relevant research efforts could be found in the existing open innovation literature. The role of TMT diversity in shaping the performance of open innovation is scarcely investigated. Analysis of panel data from 150 biopharmaceutical firms in China from 2013 to 2017 reveals that the performance of two forms of open innovation (i.e. inbound and outbound) is contingent on TMT diversity. In addition, a differential moderating effect occurs when TMT diversity emerges from distinct attributes of the members, namely, surface-level (e.g. gender and age) and deep-level (e.g. functional background). The results contribute to studies on upper echelons theory and open innovation strategy.