Industrial Innovations

Industrial Innovations

Examining the Moderating Effect of Managerial Discretion on Blockchain Technology and Firms’ Innovation Quality

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Reza Fathi 1
Behnaz Boromand Hadaf 2
1 Department of Industrial Management and Technology, Faculty of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.
2 Department of Business Management, Payame Noor University, Karaj, Iran.
10.66224/jii.4.1.34
Abstract
Given the importance of the role of managers as critical decision-makers and participants in firms, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of managerial discretion on blockchain technology and firms’ innovation quality. The statistical population of this study includes all academic experts, managers, and practitioners in manufacturing companies in Tehran Province who were in some way involved with blockchain technology, from whom 384 individuals were selected as the sample. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, and the research data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method and the statistical software SPSS and SmartPLS. In this study, the moderating effect of three types of managerial discretion namely environmental discretion, organizational discretion, and extra discretion on the relationship between blockchain technology and firms’ innovation quality was examined. The results showed that environmental discretion, with a path coefficient of 0.253 and a significance value of 3.326, strengthens the positive relationship between blockchain technology and firms’ innovation quality. Organizational discretion, with a path coefficient of −0.642 and a significance value of −8.465, weakens the positive relationship between blockchain technology and firms’ innovation quality. Moreover, extra discretion, with a path coefficient of 0.291 and a significance value of 3.865, strengthens the positive relationship between blockchain technology and firms’ innovation quality. In explaining the research findings, it can be stated that we have entered the golden age of information technology, which has blurred the managerial boundaries of firms, and this is especially true in companies where blockchain technology is well developed and widely used. Accordingly, companies should pay sufficient attention to innovations related to technical skills. This result provides an inspiring and useful reference for company managers when undertaking technological innovation and making strategic innovation decisions.
Keywords
Managerial discretion
Blockchain technology
Innovation quality
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  • Receive Date 01 January 2026
  • Revise Date 08 May 2026
  • Accept Date 10 May 2026