Are scholar-type CEOs more conducive to promoting industrial AI transformation of manufacturing companies?
Industrial Management & Data Systems
ISSN: 0263-5577
Article publication date: 14 July 2023
Issue publication date: 4 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
In order to effectively promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy and empower real enterprises to improve quality and efficiency, this study regards the CEO as a high-end innovation resource and aims to empirically test the impact of scholar-type CEOs on the industrial artificial intelligence (AI) transformation of manufacturing enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded on the upper echelons theory, this paper preliminarily selects A-share manufacturing listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange that are affiliated to enterprise groups from 2014 to 2020 as samples. Furthermore, the Logit regression is conducted to analyze the influence of scholar-type CEOs about industrial AI transformation.
Findings
The results show that scholar-type CEO plays a significant role in promoting industrial AI transformation. The parent-subsidiary corporations executives' ties positively moderates the impact of scholar-type CEOs on industrial AI transformation. Further, internal control quality plays a partial mediating role between scholar-type CEOs and industrial AI transformation. Compared with private enterprises, scholar-type CEOs play a stronger role in promoting industrial AI transformation of state-owned enterprises.
Originality/value
First, this paper expands the research related to the influencing factors of industrial AI transformation based on upper echelons theory and clarifies the influencing mechanism of scholar-type CEOs affecting industrial AI transformation from the perspective of executives' behavior. Second, this study further enriches the research framework on the economic consequences of scholar-type CEOs and provides a useful supplement to the research literature in the field of upper echelons theory. Third, this paper is not limited to a single enterprise but involves the management practice of resource allocation within the enterprise groups, further clarifies the internal logic of the decision-making of industrial AI transformation of listed companies within the framework of enterprise groups, providing theoretical reference for the scientific design of the governance mechanism of parent-subsidiary companies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would also like to express appreciation to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their constructive and stimulating comments that substantially improved the paper.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71972117), the Taishan Scholar Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. tsqn202103095), the Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 2021RW009) and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant No. ZR2022MG028).
Citation
Xu, P. and Zhang, Z. (2023), "Are scholar-type CEOs more conducive to promoting industrial AI transformation of manufacturing companies?", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 123 No. 8, pp. 2150-2168. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2022-0672
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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