Despite increasing attention on top managers leveraging social media to directly interact with stakeholders, a comprehensive understanding of top manager social media usage (TMSMU) and its effect on business model innovation (BMI) remains elusive. Based on upper echelons theory (UET), this study proposes a research model that associates TMSMU with BMI, wherein CEO risk-taking propensity is considered as a contingency factor.
The research model was examined with a multimethod approach. This work included an instrument development study to establish the scale for TMSMU. Archival data and one-wave multiple-respondent survey data from 1432 top managers in 358 manufacturing firms were analyzed to test the hypotheses.
The results indicate that TMSMU has two dimensions: information-oriented SMU and relationship-oriented SMU. Hierarchical regression analysis reveals that information-oriented SMU is positively related to BMI, whereas relationship-oriented SMU has a U-shaped relationship with BMI. CEO risk-taking propensity strengthens the positive relationship between information-oriented SMU and BMI but weakens the U-shaped relationship between relationship-oriented SMU and BMI.
This study enriches the literature on TMSMU by conceptualizing and developing measures for two types of TMSMU. The findings indicate that TMSMU facilitates BMI, while CEO risk-taking propensity serves as a boundary condition of the effect of TMSMU on BMI. By identifying TMSMU as a way to broaden top managers' cognitive base, this study contributes to the contextualization of UET in the social media context.
