Trusting relationships of CTO‐CEO and CTO's participation in technology strategy : Based on empirical study of Chinese high‐tech firms

Purpose – Drawing on the literature of chief technology officer (CTO) and trusting relationship theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of trusting relationship of CTO‐chief executive officer (CEO) on the CTO's participation in technology strategy, based on empirical study of Chinese high‐tech firms, in order to maximize CTO's strategic decision‐making role. Taking into account the weight of power in Chinese culture, this study takes CTO's power distribution as moderator, to study whether it strengthens the impact of trusting relationship of CTO‐CEO on CTO's participation in technology strategy. Design/methodology/approach – CTOs of high‐tech firms from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shenzhen, Zhejiang and Beijing are taken as samples. A questionnaire survey is conducted by using random sampling method. Findings – The results show that trusting relationships of CTO‐CEO has a significant positive impact on CTO's participation in technology strategy. The two dimensions of trusting relationships of CTO‐CEO, cognitive trust and emotional trust also have a significant positive impact on CTO's participation in technology strategy and each dimension of CTO's power distribution has a significant moderating effect on partial paths. Originality/value – The results are analyzed from both the data level and theoretical level. Conclusions on the management inspiration of CEO and CTO in high‐tech firms are drawn.