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| Formation Path of Firm's Digital Innovation Based on Grounded Theory: a Multi-case Study |
| Li Xiaoqing1,Li Binglian1,He Weixuan1,Zhou Jian2 |
| (1. School of Economics and Management, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China; 2. School of Business, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China) |
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Abstract In the era of digital economy, digital innovation has becomes an important engine for enterprises to cultivate new impetus and an important measure to promote the high-quality development of traditional industries. The Fifth Plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed to adhere to the core position of innovation in the overall situation of China's modernization. The plan of "Made in China 2025" emphasizes to promote the digitization, networking and intelligence of manufacturing industry and take the path of innovation-driven development. At present, digitization has penetrated into all fields of social and economic life. Facing the impact of digitization, enterprises are under great pressure to change their business models through digital innovation. The outbreak of COVID-19 has prompted many enterprises to seek digital innovation and development mode to grasp new market opportunities. In addition, the existing research on digital innovation mostly focuses on the connotation, dimension composition, basic characteristics and management framework of digital innovation. There is a lack of research on the formation path of digital innovation. Moreover, digital innovation is different from traditional innovation and poses a challenge to the traditional innovation theory. In the background of open innovation and digital economy, there is an urgent need of theoretical response of how to grasp the formation path of digital innovation . Therefore, based on the multi-case exploratory research of grounded theory, this paper deeply excavates and expounds the formation path of digital innovation.#br#This paper selects Contec Medical Systems Co. Ltd, Bank of Guangzhou and Nobel Ceramic Tile as research cases. The research data come from interviewing relevant personnel of the enterprise, studying the internal materials of the enterprise, and retrieving the materials related to the digital innovation of the case enterprise in the online newspapers and periodicals. Finally, based on the concept and characteristics of digital innovation, 45 valid texts are retained after excluding the invalid texts. Thus, a theoretical model of the formation path of enterprise digital innovation is constructed with details as follows. (1) Digital technology and market demand are the driving factors of digital innovation. (2) Internal environment and external environment are the boundary conditions of digital innovation. (3) Identification, initiation, exploration and utilization are the key activities for enterprises to implement digital innovation. (4) Digital product, service, process and business model innovation are the manifestations of digital innovation.#br#The results show that from the perspective of digital innovation generation, market demand and digital technology are the starting point and driving factors of enterprise digital innovation. From the perspective of digital innovation situation, in the context of open innovation, digital innovation is no longer limited to the interior of the enterprise organization, emphasizing the interaction between the organization and the internal and external environment. From the perspective of digital innovation process, the characteristic of self-growth of digital technology shapes the dynamic evolution of digital innovation. From the perspective of digital innovation results, this study breaks through the limitations of interpreting digital innovation based on results orientation, and it points out that digital innovation is not only the innovation of final products and services, but also the innovation of process and business model.#br#This study constructs a theoretical model of the formation path of enterprise digital innovation, enriches the connotation of digital innovation, expands the cognitive boundary of digital innovation, and promotes the theoretical research of digital innovation in the local context. Different from previous studies, this study analyzes the digital innovation activities of case enterprises based on grounded theory. Five main categories including driving factors, external environment, internal environment, key activities, and digital innovation are extracted, which enriches the connotation of digital innovation. Based on the understanding of digital innovation and the analysis of the digital innovation practice of case enterprises, this paper constructs the formation path of enterprise digital innovation. The research results have certain guiding significance for the digital innovation practice of enterprises. Firstly, this study can provide a basis for enterprises to analyze the conditions and resources to support digital innovation. Secondly, the research results provide support for Chinese enterprises to build a digital innovation path from the overall level. Finally, it provides inspiration for enterprises how to make better use of the external environment to promote digital innovation.#br#
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Received: 30 December 2020
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