CEO foreign experience and corporate digital transformation: moderating effects of firm resources

CEOs play a vital role in formulating corporate digital transformation and their cognitions and behaviours are often shaped by their experience. However, few studies have explored the impact of CEOs’ experience, especially foreign experience, on firms’ digital transformation. Drawing on upper echelons theory, we examine how CEO foreign experience affects corporate digital transformation. Since CEO foreign experience is one valuable human capital resource, we also examine how it interacts with other firm resources to affect digital transformation. Using a large sample of Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2019, we find a significantly positive effect of returnee CEOs on corporate digital transformation. This effect is also strengthened by firm slack but weakened by the presence of digital leaders. Overall, our study suggests that returnee CEOs matter for corporate digital transformation, offering important implications for firms and government in emerging economies.