<p>The top management team plays a crucial role in a company’s specialization strategy. Vertical interlocking is a common practice in which executives serve concurrently in different organizations. This study examines the impact of vertical interlocking on specialization and investigates the role of vertical interlocking between shareholders and companies in enterprise specialization. The empirical results show that vertical interlocking facilitates specialization while limiting and restricting management’s self-interested behavior. The size of related capital transactions and financial constraints is identified as mediating mechanisms for this positive effect. This study deepens the understanding of the relationship between vertical interlocks and enterprise specialization, provides guidance for executive selection and top management team structure, and offers empirical evidence for leveraging vertical social networks and collaborative managerial allocation to promote specialization.</p>