How do polychronicity and interfunctional coordination affect the relationship between exploratory innovation and the quality of new product development?

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of exploratory innovation on the quality of new product development (NPD), and how do polychronicity of the top management team (TMT) and interfunctional coordination (IFC) moderate the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested by the survey data of 210 Chinese enterprises. Hierarchical regression analyzes were used to test the hypotheses in this research. Findings The results indicate that exploratory innovation facilitates NPD quality. TMT polychronicity weakens the effect of exploratory innovation on NPD quality. IFC strengthens the effect of exploratory innovation on NPD quality. Practical implications This study provides managers with insight on the relationship between exploratory innovation and NPD quality. To improve NPD quality, managers should be paying more attention to exploratory innovation. Furthermore, this study helps managers to understand how the relationship changes with the increases of TMT polychronicity and IFC. Originality/value This study highlights the value of exploratory innovation in increasing NPD quality based on the knowledge-based view. By incorporating TMT polychronicity and IFC based on the attention-based view, it offers much richer understandings of how exploratory innovation affects NPD quality.