CEO vision articulation, TMT relational attachment, and corporate entrepreneurship

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a fresh theoretical perspective on why and when the chief executive officer’s (CEO) vision articulation has a beneficial effect on a firm’s corporate entrepreneurship pursuits through top management team (TMT) relational attachment. Integrating the CEO-TMT interface perspective with insights from attachment theory, we construct a moderated-mediation model to demonstrate that: (a) TMT relational attachment mediates the relationship between CEO vision articulation and corporate entrepreneurship (why), and (b) this mediated effect is influenced by the level of TMT gender diversity (when). We test our model in the context of Taiwanese small- and medium-sized enterprises. Using a multi-wave survey involving 558 TMT members (including CEOs) in 175 firms, the results show that CEO vision articulation positively influences corporate entrepreneurship via TMT relational attachment, and this mediated effect is more potent when TMT gender diversity is high than when it is low.