This paper examines the micro-foundations of cross-border industrial diversification strategies. We study the impact of observable CEO experience attributes on the propensity to acquire foreign target firms in unrelated (versus related) industries. Our findings, based on a sample of UK-based firms that engaged in cross-border acquisitions between 2010 and 2016, support an inverted U-shaped relationship between life experience of the CEO and the likelihood of engaging in unrelated foreign acquisitions. Further, we find that CEOs' broad-based work experience, across countries or industries, is associated with a higher propensity to engage in unrelated foreign acquisitions. Finally, CEOs’ education experience in MBA-type qualifications is associated with a preference for related foreign acquisitions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and outline directions for future research in the context of micro-foundations in international business, strategic leadership, and upper echelons theory.

本文考察了跨境产业多元化战略的微观基础。我们研究了可观察到的 CEO 经验属性对收购无关（相对于相关）行业的外国目标公司的倾向的影响。我们的研究结果基于 2010 年至 2016 年间从事跨境收购的英国公司样本，结果表明CEO 的生活经历与从事无关外国收购的可能性之间存在倒 U 形关系。此外，我们发现，CEO们的广泛的工作经验，在不同国家或行业，与较高的倾向有关，从事不相关的海外收购。最后，CEO的教育经历MBA 类型的资格与对相关外国收购的偏好有关。我们讨论了这些发现的理论意义，并在国际商务、战略领导和高层理论的微观基础背景下概述了未来研究的方向。