The role of top managers' human and social capital in business model innovation

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the business model from a value network perspective and to investigate how top managers' individual characteristics contribute to business model innovation.

On the basis of upper echelons theory and contingency theory, this study empirically examines the micro‐macro link between top managers' human and social capital and firm business model innovation.

Using survey data collected from 146 Chinese firms, the findings indicate that both top managers' managerial and entrepreneurial skills and managerial ties significantly lead to business model innovation. Furthermore, the interaction between entrepreneurial skills and managerial ties enhances, yet the interaction between managerial skills and managerial ties inhibits business model innovation.

By proposing a value network‐based definition for the business model, this study provides additional insights into the current debate on the definition and architecture of business model. Further, the current study contributes to an emerging body of business model research by demonstrating, for the first time, that a manager's individual characteristics can both directly and interactively drive business model innovation in the context of emerging economies.