With "business model innovation" becoming a popular term in the business world

it is also becoming a focus of management research. Top managers have an important influence on business model innovation

but the understanding of it in extant literature is vague. What is the role of top managers in business model innovation? Integrating the extant empirical research based on the samples of Chinese enterprises

using upper echelon theory

cognitive theory

resource-based view and behavior theory

this paper explores the relationship between top managers and business model innovation from the perspectives of trait

cognition

resource-ability and behavior. This research supports the view that top managers are positively related to business model innovation. The results show that top managers are indeed one of the important factors influencing business model innovation. There is a positive correlation between the heterogeneity of the top management team

the heterogeneity of top management team tenure

the cognitive ability of top managers

their entrepreneurial spirit

their social capital

their opportunity recognition capability

the integration of their behavior

their cross-boundary behavior and business model innovation

while age heterogeneity and education level heterogeneity of the top management team and prior experience of top managers have no significant correlation with business model innovation.