With the continuous development of the digital age, global digital connectivity has not only changed the logic of production and life in today's society, but also affected the digital innovation logic of multinational corporations and posed challenges to multinational corporations. How to improve digital innovation performance through digital capabilities in the context of digital connectivity has become a key issue for multinational corporations in China to achieve global profit maximization. Digital capability is a key capability centered around digital connectivity and includes three elements: digital connectivity capability, digital integration capability, and intelligent decision-making. Digital connectivity capability includes digital technology, digital platform architecture, and digital intelligence. There is a lack of comprehensive analysis of the impact of multiple capabilities on the performance of digital innovation in enterprises in the existing studies. In addition, since digital connectivity has impacted the analytical framework of dynamic capabilities in traditional contexts, it is necessary to embed digital connectivity scenarios in the framework of dynamic capabilities, focusing digital integration capability and intelligent decision-making on the interaction relationships between multiple elements of digital connectivity capability, and conducting research on the matching relationship between digital connectivity capability, digital integration capability, intelligent decision-making, and the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations. In terms of digital innovation performance of multinational corporations, due to the fact that existing research often focuses on result orientation and neglects the important role of processes in it, this article divides the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations into product innovation performance and process innovation performance.
Overall, within the dynamic capability analysis framework, this study defines five antecedents and explores the impact of their different combinations on the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations in the context of digital connectivity. It uses the fsQCA method to delve into the multi-factor synergistic effects among various elements in digital capabilities and the complex causal mechanisms that affect the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations, and selects a total of 40 representative multinational corporations from the China Top 100 Multinational Companies List as the research subjects. The research results indicate that, firstly, from an overall perspective, no single antecedent condition can independently serve as a necessary condition for affecting the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations. Secondly, the configurations that affect product innovation performance can be summarized as being digital connectivity capability-driven and resource-driven;the configurations that affect the performance of process innovation can be summarized as being intelligent-driven and resource-driven. Finally, compared to process innovation performance, resource-driven product innovation performance relies more on digital platform architecture.
On the basis of the research findings, this article proposes that, firstly, multinational corporations need to attach importance to the cultivation and application of digital connectivity capabilities, and actively develop the role of digital technology, digital platform architecture, and digital intelligence in the performance of digital innovation in the context of digital connectivity. Secondly, they need to clarify their corporate positioning, focus on internal and external resource allocation, construct corporate resource integration strategies, and fully develop their digital integration capabilities. Finally, it is essential to improve the level of digital intelligence utilization and promote the development of enterprise digital innovation. In addition, this article makes three theoretical contributions: it reveals the mechanism by which digital capabilities affect the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations, expanding existing research and deepening understanding of digital connectivity;then it analyzes the shortcomings of existing research through a combination of product innovation performance and process innovation performance, effectively enhancing the comprehensiveness and objectivity of the research;and finally, it provides a new analytical perspective and evidence for the digital innovation performance of multinational corporations in China in the context of digital connectivity by fsQCA.