Buyer–supplier TMT background misalignment and green innovation performance: the moderating roles of TMT tenure and incentives
研究中国制造业上市公司发现，买方与供应商高管团队在职能背景和教育水平上的错配会降低买方的绿色创新绩效，但买方高管团队任期和长期激励能缓解这一负面效应。
Purpose While top management teams (TMTs) play an important role in shaping firms’ strategic choices and performance outcomes, studies on green innovation have rarely considered the influence of the TMT demographics of firms and their suppliers. Drawing upon upper echelon theory, this study investigates the impact of buyer–supplier TMT misalignment on green innovation performance, along with potential moderators of this effect. Design/methodology/approach The empirical setting is Chinese-listed manufacturing firms that are present in both the Chinese Research Data Services Platform (CNRDS) database and the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. The study employs panel data regression methods on a dyadic dataset of 530 paired buyer–supplier firm-year observations over the period 2008–2019. Findings Buyer–supplier TMT misalignment in terms of functional background and educational level is negatively associated with buyer green innovation performance. This negative effect can, however, be mitigated by TMT tenure and long-term incentives in buyer firms. Originality/value By introducing the notion of TMT background misalignment to the supply chain, this study advances the understanding of relational TMT demographics in predicting organizational performance and extends upper echelon theory.