This cumulative dissertation investigates the role and implications of top managers in firms. By building on two influential contemporary phenomena – internationalization and digitalization – and by examining top managers from a multitude of conceptional and methodological angles, the dissertation provides novel insights to upper echelons research. The first study examines the association between top management team (TMT) internationalization and firm innovativeness and argues that the accumulation of international knowledge and resources in the TMT benefits firm innovativeness. The second study analyzes the association between CEO internationalization and firms’ strategic risk-taking, paying particular attention to various governance mechanisms that may influence this relationship. The third study explores the role and facilitating actions of top managers in response to the digital transformation. Overall, this dissertation contributes toward a more fine-grained understanding of top managers and their individual characteristics. Given the contemporary relevance of the topics under consideration, the presented findings are of significant value for both theorists and practitioners.

This study examines whether top management team (TMT) internationalization is positively related to firm innovativeness. Besides focusing on the accumulation of top managers' international knowledge and capabilities, we explore the influence of moderators reflecting temporal concerns at three levels: CEO age, TMT tenure, and firm age. Combining upper echelons theory with innovation literature and using a sample of large stock-listed German firms, we demonstrate that TMT internationalization can increase firm innovativeness. This relationship is context-dependent on the age of the CEO. Overall, this paper sheds light on the antecedents of firm innovativeness and the consequences of increasingly international TMTs.