Enterprise digital transformation under process constraints: investigation of the combinative effects of different constraints

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to empirically study the effect of process constraints and the combinative effects of different constraints on enterprise digital transformation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper selects the World Bank's business environment survey of Chinese enterprises in 2012 as the research sample to empirically study the effect of process constraints and different kinds of constraints on enterprise digital transformation.FindingsThe authors find that process constraints have an inverted U-shaped effect on enterprise digital transformation and that employee digital literacy plays an intermediary role in this process. That is, process constraints have a too-much-of-a-good-thing effect on employees' digital literacy, which further affects enterprise digital transformation. The increase in the number of input and output constraints will make the inverted U-shaped relationship between the process constraint and digital transformation steeper.Originality/valueThe constraints faced by enterprises are everywhere and of many kinds. This paper not only discusses the influence of process constraints on enterprise digital transformation but also analyzes the interactive influence of different kinds of constraints on enterprise digital transformation and explores its micromechanism. This approach is helpful for enterprise managers in thinking about how to make full use of different kinds of constraints to activate the power of enterprise digital transformation, regard constraints as challenges and opportunities, and use them to stimulate the ability to improve the resource integration and utilization.

The impact of the interaction of independent and cooperative innovation on firm digitization: the moderating role of managerial discretion

“…High-quality development is a new goal and requirement for China’s future economic and social development, and digitization has been playing a significant role as a basic resource and innovation engine (Porfírio et al ., 2021; Zhao et al ., 2022). As the main driver of the digital economy, enterprises need to leverage digital technologies to seize the right moment to innovate, improve decision-making, and create competitive advantages (Lei et al ., 2023; Li and Shao, 2023), all of which lead to high-quality development. However, in practice, an increasing number of enterprises have been choosing to try and speed up the process of digital development, which results in the companies falling into the digitization-related trap of “too fast, too early, and excessive” (Verbeke and Hutzschenreuter, 2021).…”