Chief operating officer characteristics and how they relate to exploration via patenting versus venturing

This article investigates the role of chief operating officers’ (COOs’) characteristics and their relation to the exploration modes of patenting and venturing. It relies on the upper echelons view to explain how COOs’ demographic and professional background features – represented by their career horizon, gender, and functional experience – may influence the path those COOs choose to conduct exploration. Based on a ten-year cross-industry panel of U.S. firms, the results provide support for the notion that distinct COO profiles relate to organizational exploration efforts. While COOs with long career horizons are associated negatively with patenting activity, they positively relate to corporate venturing activity. Female COOs are positively related to venturing, though no relation can be observed for patenting. COOs with backgrounds in development are positively associated with patenting activity and insignificantly related to venturing. This research adds to the debate on how functional top executives matter for firm exploration.