TMT's technical orientation and ambidextrous innovation capability in digital transformation age

Abstract This study examines the effects of technical orientation of the top management team (TMT) on ambidextrous innovation capability in the digital transformation age. Our baseline results document a positive relationship between TMTs' technical orientation and ambidextrous innovation capability. While digital transformation significantly enhances the positive relationship between TMTs' technical orientation and radical innovation capability, it is not correlated with the positive relationship between TMTs' technical orientation and incremental innovation capability. We discuss the heterogeneity of state ownership, revealing that while TMTs' technical orientation enhances the ambidextrous innovation capability in Chinese state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), it is not correlated with Chinese non‐SOEs. In Chinese SOEs, digital transformation enhances the positive relationship between TMTs' technical orientation and ambidextrous innovation capability, but no correlation is observed in Chinese non‐SOEs.