CEO Compensation, Diversity in Multinational Enterprises, and Innovation Ambidexterity: Evidence from the Global Pharmaceutical Industry
In this session of the International Business Seminar Series, Prof. Dr. Ziko Konwar examined how CEO incentives and international diversity influence innovation strategies in multinational enterprises. Challenging traditional views, he highlighted the role of leadership and global diversity in balancing internal R&D with external technology acquisition.
Extending insights from tournament theory to the international business domain, Prof. Konwar's study develops a theoretical model that explains how CEO compensation and international diversity influence innovation strategy in multinational enterprises (MNEs).
At the core of the research is the concept of innovation ambidexterity – the organization’s simultaneous pursuit of internal R&D ("Make") and external technology acquisitions ("Buy") to build a global innovation portfolio.
The study postulates that long-term, performance-based CEO incentives positively influence both the intensity and the balance of these innovation strategies. Furthermore, the research suggests that these relationships are shaped by diversity within the MNE network on two levels:
- Organizational diversity – such as cultural differences across foreign subsidiaries.
- Managerial diversity – particularly the composition of top management teams.
Using panel data from 1,070 CEOs across 547 high-tech pharmaceutical MNEs, the empirical analysis provides strong support for these hypotheses, with some nuanced variations.
In conclusion, the study offers both theoretical insights and practical implications for strategic leadership in MNEs, especially regarding global innovation management.
Dr. Ziko Konwar is an Assistant Professor of International Business and currently serves as the Cheney Fellowship Research Lead (2024–26) at Leeds University Business School. His research focuses on the global strategy of multinational enterprises, with a special emphasis on cross-national institutional and systemic challenges.
His work has been published in journals such as Long Range Planning, R&D Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and International Marketing Review, among others. From 2021 to 2024, he was the Director of Internationalization for the International Business Department at the University of Leeds, and from 2017 to 2022, he served as the MSc Programme Director.
Prior to his academic career, Dr. Konwar gained industry experience working at IBM and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).