CEO overseas experience, dynamic capabilities and corporate digital transformation: An imprinting theory perspective

The drivers of corporate digital transformation have been the focus of industry and academic attention. To deeply explore the driving factors and influencing mechanisms of corporate digital transformation (CDT), this paper takes Chinese listed manufacturing companies from 2007–2021 as the research object, based on imprinting theory, adopts the Driscoll-Kraay standard error method, examines the impact of CEO overseas experience on CDT, analyzes the moderating mechanisms of market competition and organizational resources, as well as the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities. The study shows that CEO overseas experience significantly promotes CDT, while market competition intensity and organizational slack resources strengthen the above relationship. Dynamic capabilities play a mediating role in the relationship between CEO overseas experience and CDT. The above findings still hold after considering robustness tests and endogeneity treatments. Further research finds that the overseas working experience of a CEO outweighs the learning experience when it comes to CDT; a CEO with overseas experience has a more significant influence on CDT in the company with a low growth rate; when the CEO is also the chair of the board in the executive team of a company, the overseas experience matters more to CDT; the overseas experience of CEOs with deep academic backgrounds has a more significant impact on CDT. This paper states the driving mechanism of corporate digital transformation from the imprinting theory perspective, and the findings are proven to be substantial and offer practical value for the in-depth development of corporate digital transformation.