Research on the relationship between CEO career variety, digital knowledge base extension, and digital transformation in the context of digital merger and acquisition: The case of China’s new generation of information technology firms

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 3; p. e0297044
• Main Authors: Li, Hongyang, Yang, Xu, Meng, Mingming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 13.03.2024
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences; People and Places; Science Policy; Social Sciences
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297044

This study examines the relationship between CEO career variety, digital knowledge base extension, and digital transformation in a digital M&A context. An empirical test was conducted using regression analysis with the digital M&A events of the new generation of information technology firms in China as the research sample. The results reveal that CEO career variety has a positive effect on digital transformation in the digital M&A context and that digital knowledge-base extension plays a mediating role. Moreover, the heterogeneity impact analysis indicated that the moderating effects of geographical distance, knowledge disparity, and cultural difference between target and acquirer firms on the above relationships vary greatly: geographical distance has a negative moderating effect, cultural difference has a positive moderating effect, and the moderating effects of both geographical distance and cultural difference are realized through mediating effects, but none of the moderating effects of knowledge disparity are significant.