Zhang Mengxin, Chen Xihui, Xie Hongming, Esposito Luca, Parziale Anna, Taneja Shilpa, Siraj Ahsan
School of Management, Taizhou Vocational & Technical College, Taizhou, 318000, China.
Institute of Taizhou Enterprise Management Consulting, Taizhou Vocational & Technical College, Taizhou, 318000, China.
Heliyon. 2024 May 21;10(10):e31579. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31579. eCollection 2024 May 30.
In the swiftly evolving business landscape, digital transformation (DT) has emerged as a crucial strategy for firms to gain a competitive edge. Despite the abundance of literature on DT in firms, there remains a dearth of empirical research that defines and analyzes crucial antecedents of small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) DT from an internal perspective. To fill this research gap, this study examines the correlation between organizational agility and digital capability in cultivating SMEs' DT while also evaluating top management support as a moderating variable through the lens of internal factors of SMEs. The results indicate that both organizational agility and digital capability have a positive impact on SMEs' DT, with organizational agility significantly influencing digital capability. Furthermore, the findings highlight that digital capability serves as a mediator between organizational agility and SMEs' DT. In addition, top management support plays a moderating role in these relationships to a certain extent. Additionally, we explicate the concept of digital capabilities from the perspective of dynamic capability. Our study contributes to an enhanced understanding of the effect of organizational agility and digital capability on SMEs' DT, as well as the role of top management support. We provide recommendations for managers to enhance organizational agility and suggest that SMEs should improve their digital thinking to better perceive digital technology changes, enhance digital operation capabilities, and better integrate digital resources.
在迅速演变的商业格局中,数字化转型(DT)已成为企业获取竞争优势的关键战略。尽管关于企业数字化转型的文献众多,但从内部视角界定和分析中小企业数字化转型关键前因的实证研究仍很匮乏。为填补这一研究空白,本研究考察了组织敏捷性与数字能力在培育中小企业数字化转型方面的相关性,同时通过中小企业内部因素的视角,将高层管理支持作为调节变量进行评估。结果表明,组织敏捷性和数字能力均对中小企业的数字化转型产生积极影响,其中组织敏捷性对数字能力有显著影响。此外,研究结果突出显示数字能力在组织敏捷性与中小企业数字化转型之间起中介作用。此外,高层管理支持在这些关系中在一定程度上起到调节作用。此外,我们从动态能力的角度阐释了数字能力的概念。我们的研究有助于增进对组织敏捷性和数字能力对中小企业数字化转型的影响以及高层管理支持作用的理解。我们为管理者增强组织敏捷性提供了建议,并指出中小企业应提升其数字思维,以便更好地感知数字技术变化、增强数字运营能力并更好地整合数字资源。