Adaptive capacity configurations for the digital transformation: a fuzzy-set analysis of Chinese manufacturing firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Liu ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Wan Liu

PurposeEmerging in recent years, digital transformation has become an effective approach for firms to remain competitive in the digital economy. Although this trend has received increasing interest in the business world, there remains a lack of empirical research on the organizational capacities that facilitate digital transformation. To fill this research gap, we investigate the relationship between adaptive capacity configuration and the performance of digital transformation.Design/methodology/approachWe use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify the impact of adaptive capacity on the digital transformation performance of 38 firms in the household appliance manufacturing, light manufacturing and clothing manufacturing industries (HAMI, LMI, CMI).FindingsOur analysis reveals a Technology-driven transformation configuration for the HAMI, a Market-driven transformation configuration for the LMI and a Market and Management-driven transformation configuration for the CMI, as well as identifies environment scanning capacity as a common basic adaptive capacity. The first configuration is rooted in the innovation mechanism, and the last two configurations are rooted in the integration mechanism.Practical implicationsEnterprises in different industries with unique technology levels require distinctive capacity configurations to implement digital transformation. Each dimension of adaptive capacity plays a particular role in each industry. Environmental scanning capacity requires firms to be agile in their interactions with the digital world and to collect information about the environment.Originality/valueThis study enriches and expands the dimensions of adaptive capacity, and we provide a perspective for researching the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises through adaptive capability configuration.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 5946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhou Chu ◽  
Maomao Chi ◽  
Weijun Wang ◽  
Bo Luo

With the development of national strategies (such as Industrial 4.0 and Made in China 2025), how to build digital enterprises and cultivate innovation capabilities of enterprises has become a critical problem to Chinese manufacturing enterprises. However, the literature on the specific path of information technology (IT) capabilities to the innovation of enterprises is still lacking a body of relevant empirical research. In particular, it has not yet thought to explore the information technology capabilities, digital transformation, and then innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises. By performing a questionnaire investigation for 138 Chinese manufacturing enterprises, this study adopted both a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the set relations of the conjunctions and conditions and the statistical associations by studying the relationships among information technology capabilities, digital transformation and innovation performance. The results show that the positive impacts of information technology capabilities on the process innovation performance and the digital transformation, as well as the positive impacts of digital transformation on both process innovation performance and product innovation performance. Specifically, digital transformation takes on a new function of partial mediation of IT capabilities and process innovation performance, and digital transformation functions as a complete mediator for IT capabilities and product innovation performance. The combinations of causal recipes related to innovation performance are provided by a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Through the analyses of SEM and fsQCA, this research develops the formation mechanisms of both process innovation performance and product innovation performance, and provides guidance for both IT and innovation management of manufacturing enterprises in China.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 2148-2171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Ponsiglione ◽  
Adelaide Ippolito ◽  
Simonetta Primario ◽  
Giuseppe Zollo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the configuration of factors affecting the accuracy of triage decision-making. The contribution of the work is twofold: first, it develops a protocol for applying a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) in the context of triage decision-making, and second, it studies, through two pilot cases, the interplay between individual and organizational factors in determining the emergence of errors in different decisional situations. Design/methodology/approach The methodology adopted in this paper is the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The fuzzy-set variant of QCA (fsQCA) is implemented. The data set has been collected during field research carried out in the Emergency Departments (EDs) of two Italian public hospitals. Findings The results of this study show that the interplay between individual and contextual/organizational factors determines the emergence of errors in triage assessment. Furthermore, there are some regularities in the patterns discovered in each of the investigated organizational contexts. These findings suggest that we should avoid isolating individual factors from the context in which nurses make their decisions. Originality/value Previous research on triage has mainly explored the impact of homogeneous groups of factors on the accuracy of the triage process, without considering the complexity of the phenomenon under investigation. This study outlines the need to consider the not-linear relationships among different factors in the study of triage’s decision-making. The definition and implementation of a protocol to apply fsQCA to the triage process in EDs further contributes to the originality of the research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh Farivar ◽  
Osveh Esmaeelinezhad

Purpose Recent research highlights the necessity to critically examine the factors that can reduce the relationship between job stressors, such as job demand and burnout, to create healthier workplaces. This study aims to explore how five types of motivations (extrinsic motivation-social, extrinsic motivation- material, introjected, identified and intrinsic motivation), in combination with extraversion trait influence the impact of job demands on job burnout. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a set-theoretic approach named fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to analyze the data collected from 84 employees working in an research and development department of a public organization. Findings Findings revealed two distinct configurations. First, the absence of intrinsic and identified motivations lead to job burnout if extraverted participants suffer from high job demands. Second, non-extraverted participants reported high job burnout in the presence of high job demands, although all five types of motivations drove them. Practical implications This study suggests managers need to consider personalized preventive actions, depending on the level of extraversion trait when they try to motivate their employees who are dealing with high levels of job demands. Originality/value The emerging trend in social science suggests adopting linearity assumptions to study social phenomena is inconsistent with the reality of human behavior. Thus, this study used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the complex interplay among all five types of motivations, extraversion trait, job demands, which contribute to burnout.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
pp. 00-00
Author(s):  
Khawaja Fawad Latif ◽  
Omar Afzal ◽  
Adeel Saqib ◽  
Umar Farooq Sahibzada ◽  
Waqar Alam

PurposeDrawing on the knowledge-based view, the study aims to investigate the impact of knowledge management enablers (entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge-oriented leadership) on knowledge management processes and project success. The study further ascertains the specific combinations of knowledge management enablers and knowledge management processes that can lead to project success.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 222 project workers in information technology projects, and the proposed relationships were assessed through partial least squares structural equation modeling while configuration paths were assessed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.FindingsThe study found a significant impact of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge-oriented leadership on knowledge management processes and project success. The analysis also revealed that knowledge management processes did not significantly impact project success. Moreover, the insights from fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis show a clear pattern of equifinality, in that there are multiple combinations of knowledge management enablers and knowledge management processes that can lead to a successful project.Originality/valueThe current study is one of the earlier studies to provide insights to knowledge-based view by demonstrating the inter-relationship of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge-oriented leadership with knowledge management processes and project success. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study to assess the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership on project success. With limited studies on impact of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge-oriented leadership on knowledge management processes, the study enriches the literature on linkage of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge-oriented leadership with knowledge management processes. Methodological contributions include use of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to reveal multiple pathways to project success.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3891
Author(s):  
Piotr Kordel ◽  
Radosław Wolniak

This article’s aim is to explain the impact of technology entrepreneurship phenomenon on waste management enterprise performance in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of technology entrepreneurship according to the configuration approach and the category of high-performance organization are the theoretical bases of empirical investigation. For the implementation of empirical research, Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) was adopted. The research sample included a group of producers of Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) as a central part of the waste to energy industry located in Poland. The research results showed that the waste to energy sector is highly immune to pandemic threats. While during COVID-19, the basic economic parameters (i.e., sales, profitability and employment) of the entire industry in Poland clearly decreased, the same parameters in the case of the waste to energy industry remained at the same level. The research results allow the formulation of two high-performance models of technology entrepreneurship in the waste to energy industry under COVID-19 conditions. The first model is based on traditional technologies and hierarchical organizational structures, and the second is using innovative technologies and flexible structures. Both technology entrepreneurship models are determined by their emergence as complementary to implementation strategies and the opportunity-oriented allocation of resources within business model portfolios.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youliang Yan ◽  
Xixiong Xu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how affiliation with the government-controlled business association, namely, China Federation of Industry and Commerce (CFIC), affects corporate philanthropy in an emerging market. Design/methodology/approach Through an analysis of survey data gathered from Chinese private firms, this paper conducts multiple regressions to examine the impact of the CFIC membership on corporate philanthropy. Findings Empirical results show that the CFIC membership of private entrepreneurs is significantly positively associated with corporate philanthropy. Moreover, this study finds that the provincial marketization level and the firm Communist Party branch attenuate the positive association between CFIC membership and corporate philanthropy, indicating that the effect of CFIC on corporate philanthropy is more pronounced in regions with lower marketization level and firms without Communist Party branch. The findings are robust to various alternate measures of corporate philanthropy and remain valid after controlling for potential endogeneity. Practical implications Firms will be more active in corporate philanthropy to respond to the government’s governance appeal when they join the CFIC. This highlights the implications of political connections and in particular on the value of government-controlled business associations in the Chinese business world. Originality/value This study extends the literature on the determinants of corporate philanthropy and deepens the theoretical understanding of the governance role of business association with Chinese characteristics.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio Paolucci ◽  
Elena Pessot ◽  
Riccardo Ricci

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the effect of specific subsets of digital technologies and governance mechanisms (i.e. relational and contractual) on the efficiency of the automotive supply chain (SC).Design/methodology/approachBuilding on the Transaction Costs Economic (TCE) theory, and on the literatures on the governance and Digital Transformation of SCs, the research employs a multi-respondent survey on a sample of 101 Italian automotive suppliers. It analyses the interplay between investments in network and physical–digital interface technologies and buyer–supplier relationship governance models in a joint product development effort. The related effects on costs, from the automotive suppliers' perspective, are considered.FindingsThe results confirm the TCE assumptions on governance mechanisms being appropriate to enhance cost performance, but in particular show that digital technologies shape the governance of buyer–supplier relationships with different patterns. The features of synchronisation and accessibility, as ensured by network technologies, are found to strengthen the impact of contractual governance, while the adoption of physical–digital interface technologies, and their enhanced features of virtualisation and traceability, further enhance the impact of relational governance on the efficiency improvements of suppliers.Practical implicationsSC actors need to recognise the importance of long-term collaboration and superior coordination through investments in specific subsets of digital technologies, to ensure a higher product and production data codifiability, transparency and thus integration at both an intra- and an inter-firm level.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to have considered Digital Transformation in SCs from the suppliers' perspective and its implications on the efficiency of relationship governance with buyers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kapsali ◽  
Jens K. Roehrich ◽  
Pervaiz Akhtar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine combinations of contract clauses in order to ascertain which combinations correlate to high operational performance (OP). Design/methodology/approach Two hypotheses were formulated from contracting theory and tested on data collected from 45 projects. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was used and validated with multiple regression and simulation. Findings The hypotheses were tested to determine whether combinations of classical, relational, and/or associational contract clauses correlate to high OP. The results show that whereas high OP correlates to combinations of relational and associational contract clauses, classical and relational clauses should not be combined. Research limitations/implications Directions are proposed to guide future research in order to produce a more nuanced testing of contractual complementarity. Practical implications The managerial implications of the findings include a more thorough understanding of the use of contract clauses and of which clauses managers should combine to achieve high OP. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory of contractual incompleteness and complementarity, specifically in the context of project contracting. The analysis produced two theoretical implications: first, that better performing contracts are created when combining relational and associational contract clauses; and second, that in projects, relational and classical contract clauses are not complementary with regards to realizing high OP.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Rezaei ◽  
Ree Chan Ho

PurposeThis study aims to examine the asymmetrical relationships among information-sharing desire, moral attitudes, lack of concern, relative advantage, market maven tendency and complexity as the antecedents of E-waste-word of mouth (EW-WOM) generation.Design/methodology/approachTo obtain a holistic view and the interrelationships between conditions, the configural analysis was conducted to assess the asymmetrical relationships using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA). In addition, construct validity, reliability and symmetrical relationships between antecedent conditions (i.e. exogenous constructs) and outcome conditions (i.e. endogenous constructs) are examined using variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) technique.FindingsResults imply that market maven tendency accounts for 86.8% of the sum of the memberships in EW-WOM generation. In total, 11 configurations show sufficiency in constructing EW-WOM generation. The configuration of relativeadvanta*moralattitudes*marketmaventend shows the highest consistency value (0.939684) in producing EW-WOM generation (outcome condition). The ∼relativeadvanta *moralattitudes*complexity*∼lackfconcern with raw coverage of 0.626757 and consistency value of 0.864088 show the most sufficient configuration path in producing the outcome.Originality/valueProduct review and recommendation are easily shared in various communication formats and consumers are prone to disseminate information and their experiences with other market segments. However, the role and phenomena of such viral communication in preventing environmental issues caused by electronic and electrical devices (i.e. E-waste) are not well understood. This study is among a few attempts at understanding consumer's decision-making process to engage in E-waste activities such as the reduction of garbage, recycling, compositing and the reuse of electronic or electrical devices.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2019-0343


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Archie B. Carroll

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: First, to provide an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and its holistic impacts and implications for organizations and management. Second, to report what organizations have been doing via their corporate social responsibilities about the pandemic. Research implications for academics are offered.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken in this article was to survey the literature and news reports about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to summarize results. Further, the approach was to analyze these findings using my four-part CSR construct examining economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic impacts, implications, and responsibilities.FindingsIt was found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had important impacts and implications for most spheres or sectors of the business world. Employees, consumers and communities have been the most significantly affected, but other stakeholder groups in societies are being impacted as well. The global pandemic is putting CSR to the test, and the emerging evidence supports the idea that many companies are striving to reset their CSR thinking and initiatives to accommodate this crisis and to meet what the public expects of them.Originality/valueMuch of this paper involved reporting findings that have appeared in the literature and news. The originality involved interpreting and analyzing stakeholders affected, and how managers have been responding to these challenges. Strategic recommendations are offered.


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