Environmental sustainability and board independence: What effects on innovation ambidexterity?

This study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental sustainability and innovation ambidexterity, also considering the role of board independence in moderating this relationship. To this end, a research model is developed by drawing on both the natural resource-based view theory and agency theory. A survey is conducted on 111 Italian companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. A moderated hierarchical regression has revealed that environmental sustainability positively influences exploitation innovation and exploration innovation. Moreover, board independence strengthens the effect of environmental sustainability on innovation ambidexterity. These findings contribute to the innovation ambidexterity literature identifying environmental sustainability as strategic key to resolve the tensions between exploitation and exploration in firms’ innovations as well as suggesting that the increasing presence of independent directors on the board foster the joint pursuit of the two contradictory activities.