Digital technology can support innovation because it provides instantaneous connectivity to distant points in geographic space, such as between dispersed innovation team members. However, digital technology bears strong limitations when innovation demands transporting tacit, sticky, and contextualized knowledge. This double edge sword becomes even more severe for digital innovation, because it is strongly dynamic and based on repeated knowledge transfers among participants who are working in dispersed geographical locations and operating upon sticky and contextualized knowledge. We assume that greater internationalization of the top management team and their more global mindsets in the firm can help to cope with problems of combining sticky and contextualized knowledge from diverse and dispersed locations. Our study finds that both greater internationalization of top management teams and global mindsets support digital innovation. Interestingly, a stronger firm level of global mindset supports innovation largely regardless of the TMT internationalization level. Surprisingly, a group-wise comparison shows that greater internationalization and mindsets are more relevant for innovation of non-MNEs than of MNEs.
