IT professionals' alumni networks and firm innovation: the role of informal connections in dynamic environments

Abstract

Purpose We aim to address a critical organizational challenge – how firms can leverage informal networks to enhance innovation in increasingly dynamic environments. Alumni networks connect IT professionals and support knowledge exchange across geographical and organizational boundaries, facilitating innovation through distributed collaboration. However, prior studies have inadequately examined whether and how alumni networks help IT professionals overcome boundary barriers and contribute to firm innovation. Our study fills this gap and offers practical implications for management policies. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a large online professional social networking platform, we construct alumni networks of IT professionals and use linear regression and Poisson models to examine their impact on firm innovation. This study also conducts several robustness tests, including reconstructing the alumni networks, adopting alternative centrality measures, applying different thresholds to identify high-centrality IT professionals and using lagged independent variables. Findings We find that firms with more IT professionals occupying central positions in the alumni network exhibit stronger innovation performance. Furthermore, this positive relationship is strengthened in conditions of high technological and market dynamism, highlighting the value of informal networks in driving innovation in dynamic environments. Originality/value The positive effect of IT professionals' alumni networks on firm innovation extends the understanding of informal networks by highlighting their significance in facilitating information access and integration across organizational boundaries. We further illustrate how the impact of alumni networks varies with environmental dynamism, offering practical insights into how firms can strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity in response to environmental uncertainty.