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Does Customer Concentration Matter in Exploratory Innovation? The Moderating Effect of Board Interlocks and CEO Research Background

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  • Fushang Cui

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100044, China)

  • Fangcheng Tang

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Caiting Dong

    (School of Business Administration, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China)

  • Yushu Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100044, China)

Abstract

Both managers and researchers closely examine the factors that motivate firms to explore new domains and acquire new knowledge in pursuit of greater innovation. Considering the role of demand-side factors in innovation, in this study, we investigate how customer concentration influences exploratory innovation based on Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2019. As the characteristics of the top management team (TMT) may affect the influential mechanism, we further investigated the moderating effects of board interlocks and the CEO’s research background. Our results demonstrate that with the increase in customer concentration, the exploratory innovation level shows an inverted U-shaped trend. The board interlocks strengthen the positive effects of customer concentration on exploratory innovation, while a CEO’s research background mitigates the negative effects. Our findings offer key insights and serve as a benchmark for companies that aim to achieve innovation in their approach to managing customer relationships and organizing their top management teams.

Suggested Citation

  • Fushang Cui & Fangcheng Tang & Caiting Dong & Yushu Zhang, 2025. "Does Customer Concentration Matter in Exploratory Innovation? The Moderating Effect of Board Interlocks and CEO Research Background," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:18:y:2025:i:1:p:203-:d:1825732
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