Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2025

Abstract

In the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was clearly stated that efforts should be made to accelerate the development of thedigital economy, deepen the integration of the digital economy with the real economy, and strive to build a digital industrial cluster with international competitiveness. This grand blueprint not only highlights China's high regard for the future development of the digital economy but also points out the direction for China's economictransformation and upgrading. Meanwhile, the "Overall Layout Plan for Digital ChinaConstruction" further elaborates on this strategy and sets the ambitious goal of basically establishing an integrated promotion system for digital development andensuring significant progress in Digital China construction by 2025. This marks that the curtain of the digital economy era has been fully raised, and a brand-neweconomic form is flourishing on the Chinese land, becoming a key force drivingtheall-round progress of China's economy and society.

In the context described, the digital transformation of enterprises has transcendedthe realm of optional endeavors and emerged as an imperative and strategic inflectionpoint for their integration into the torrent of the digital economy and the masteryof future developmental trajectories. By embracing digital transformation, enterprises areable to harness the full potential of modern information technologies, includingtheInternet, big data, and artificial intelligence, to optimize production processes, elevateoperational efficiency, and innovate business paradigms. This, in turn, facilitates their acquisition of a competitive edge in the fiercely contested market landscape andestablishes a robust foundation for their sustainable development. Furthermore, digital transformation equips enterprises with the capability to more effectively cater totheincreasingly diversified consumer demands, elevate customer experiences, augment brand competitiveness, and ultimately realize a mutually beneficial scenario betweenenterprises and consumers.

When reviewing the development trajectory of Chinese family businesses, it is not difficult to find that the internationalization process of these businesses is increasingly becoming the norm. However, this process has not been smooth sailing, as external factors such as the trade war initiated by the United States andtheCOVID-19 pandemic globally have added numerous uncertainties and challenges tothe internationalization path of family businesses. Faced with these complexandever-changing international environments, the internationalization strategies of familybusinesses have exhibited new characteristics and trends.

In the current era of vigorous digital economy development, family businesses are embracing digital transformation by utilizing advanced digital technologies toclosely monitor and deeply analyze market dynamics in their host countries. This transformation not only enhances their market responsiveness and decision-makingefficiency but also gains a competitive edge for them in the international market. Therefore, as the digital economy has become an indispensable part of business management and strategy formulation, a thorough exploration of the relationshipbetween digital transformation and internationalization of family businesses not only holds theoretical value but also has far-reaching practical significance for guiding the sustainable development of family businesses in the context of globalization. Through this research, this paper aims to provide a digital technology-based internationalization strategic framework for family businesses, helping them identify new growth points in the complex international environment and achieve higher-quality development.

However, current academic exploration in the field of digital transformationandinternationalization performance of Chinese family businesses remains inadequate, particularly neglecting the significant role played by different industry characteristics and internal firm attributes in this process. In view of this, this study selects non-financial, listed family businesses in China from 2018 to 2022 as the researchobjects, aiming to empirically analyze how the degree of digital transformationof these businesses affects their internationalization performance. Furthermore, this paper incorporates two key variables: the degree of family involvement andtheinternational experience of family members, with the intention of comprehensivelyand deeply dissecting the complex relationship between digital transformationandinternationalization performance from the dimensions of industry characteristics andfamily management. Through this integrated perspective, this paper hopes to providenew insights into understanding the digital transformation strategies and their internationalization effectiveness of Chinese family businesses in the context of globalization.

In this paper, "digitalization level" is set as the independent variable, while "internationalization performance" is established as the dependent variable, serving as the foundation for exploring the relationship between the two. To deeplyanalyze this relationship, this paper conducts a detailed examination of themultidimensional characteristics of family businesses and extracts three core variables: "family business," "degree of familial involvement," and "family's international experience," as the primary focus of the study. This approach aims to gain a morecomprehensive understanding of how family businesses' digital transformationprocess influences their internationalization performance and the crucial roles playedby these core variables in this process. Through this meticulous analysis pathway, it is expected to clearly reveal the complex and profound impact mechanismbetweentheindependent variable (digitalization level) and the dependent variable(internationalization performance), providing robust theoretical support and practical guidance for family businesses to implement digital transformation in the context of globalization.

The study found that: (1) Both the digitalization level of family businesses and non-family businesses have a positive impact on their internationalization performance. Furthermore, compared to non-family businesses, the impact of the digitalization level oninternationalization performance is more significant in family businesses.(2) However, the degree of familial involvement in family businesses does not moderate thepositive impact of digitalization on internationalization performance. Instead, theinternational experience of family members within family businesses can effectively (2) moderate this positive impact. That is, when the degree of familial involvement is higher, the positive impact of digitalization on the internationalizationperformance of family businesses is stronger. (3) There are differences ininternationalization performance among family businesses in different industries during their digital transformation process.

Keywords

Family Business, Digital Transformation, Internationalization Performance

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Business Administration (Accounting and Finance)

Discipline

Accounting

Supervisor(s)

HUANG, Sterling Zhenrui

First Page

1

Last Page

147

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

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