供应链关系与企业数字化转型——基于动机与能力双重视角的分析

Supply Chain Relationships and Digital Transformation of Enterprises——A Dual Perspective of Motivation and Ability

从上下游供应链视角探索企业数字化转型的影响要素是破解当前数字化转型实践中企业“不愿转、不敢转、不会转”难题的新思路,本文围绕供应链关系对企业数字化转型的可能影响及作用机理展开实证考察。研究结果表明,在考虑内生性等问题后,供应链集中度对企业数字化转型存在负向影响。机制检验结果表明,随着供应链集中程度的加大,一方面企业开展数字化转型的动机容易因弱化的研发动力与简单的业务体系而受到抑制,另一方面企业参与数字化建设的能力容易因密集的专用性资产与不良的信息透明度而受到损害。在动机与能力双重机制的作用下,集中的供应链形态不利于企业数字化转型程度提升,且这种影响效应受企业内外部要素的调节,在非国有、处于高度市场化水平环境的企业中更为突出。本文为企业从供应链关系管理维度加快推进数字经济发展提供了一定启示。

Digitalization is an important policy tool to boost innovation and high-quality development of enterprises.Meanwhile,the supply chain relationship is a key strategic resource for enterprises,affecting cost,financing,innovation,information,and other aspects of enterprises.Therefore,exploring the influencing factors of enterprises’digital transformation from the upstream and downstream supply chain perspective provides a new way to solve the dilemma of unwillingness,fear,and inability to transform.This paper conducts an empirical test to examine the influence and the mechanism of supply chain relationships on the digital transformation of enterprises,taking A-share listed enterprises in China from 2008 to 2021 as samples.The results show that supply chain concentration has a significant negative impact on enterprises’digital transformation.The conclusion still holds after endogeneity and robustness tests.The mechanism test shows that with the increasing concentration of the supply chain,enterprises’motivation to undertake digital transformation is inhibited by weak R&D motivation and low business complexity,and their ability to engage in digital construction is easily weakened by dense specific assets and poor information transparency.Under the dual mechanism of motivation and ability,the concentrated supply chain form is not conducive to improving enterprises’digital transformation.Heterogeneity analyses show that non-state-owned enterprises or enterprises in highly marketized environments are more negatively affected by supply chain concentration in digitalization.Therefore,on the one hand,enterprises should make greater efforts in supply chain relationship management and actively expand a wider range of supply chain upstream and downstream partnerships to reduce the dependence on external key resources.On the other hand,they need to strive to consolidate the technological configuration of the digital transformation with the support of the national innovation-driven development strategy and establish an early warning system for risk measurement in the supply chain.This paper may contribute to the existing literature in the following ways.First,it explores enterprise digitalization from the perspective of supply chain relationships,explaining the challenges of digital transformation in China.Second,it expands the research on economic outcomes of supply chain relationships to enterprises’digital transformation,supplementing current theoretical comprehension and empirical evaluations of inter-firm relationships that influence enterprise decision-making.Third,it aims to elucidate the theoretical pathway by which supply chain relationships affect enterprise digitalization from a dual perspective.The findings provide valuable insights for addressing complex digital transformation challenges through effective supply chain relationship management.