The Effect of Board Structure on Sustainable Innovation Capability: A Research on Turkey

Abstract

The continuous development of information technology under intense competition environment and shortening in the product life cycles based on short-term changes in customer demands lead to complexity and uncertainty in business environments. This situation features the sustainable innovation capabilities of enterprises, highlighting their significance. In this context, the objective of this study is to determine the impact of board structure on the innovation capabilities of businesses. In line with this purpose, the data of the companies included in the Istanbul Stock Exchange 100 Index for the years 2009 -2017 were examined by panel data analysis method. As a result of regression analysis using the robust estimator developed by Beck-Katz (1995), it was found that gender diversity and role duality in the board of directors had a statistically significant negative impact on sustainable innovation capability. However, it was also observed that the ratio of foreign members in the board of directors and the size of the enterprise had a statistically significant positive impact on sustainable innovation capability.