Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
12-2025
Abstract
In 2018, Company J launched its intelligent drive digital transformation project, which was completed and entered operation in 2021. That December, the project obtained certification under Zhejiang Province's "1353" system for the future factory enterprises, marking a successful transition from discrete to continuous manufacturing. To address the asynchronous flows of logistics, information, personnel, capital, and value indiscrete manufacturing enterprises, as well as pain points such as lowper capita output, long product delivery cycles, and low annual inventory turnover rates, this study, based on organizational learning theory, constructs ananalytical model encompassing digital capability (independent variable X), organizational learning (mediating variable Z), and enterprise performance (dependent variable Y). By collecting data from Company J and employinganalytical methods such as descriptive statistical analysis, regression analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM), this studyexamines the impact of digital capability on enterprise performance.
The findings indicate that digital foundation, organizational, andmanagement capabilities significantly enhance organizational learning, whichin turn improves enterprise performance through both acquisitive andtrial-and-error learning approaches. While digital foundation and management capabilities strengthen organizational learning, they do not directly boost enterprise performance, suggesting their effects may manifest throughlonger-term or indirect pathways. Therefore, enterprises should prioritize the synergy between digital capability and organizational learning during digital transformation, particularly by enhancing digital organizational capabilities and fostering diverse organizational learning approaches to improve enterprise performance indirectly. Furthermore, enterprises should maintain patience with the enhancement of digital foundation capability and management capability, while focusing on their potential contributions to long-termbusiness development.
Keywords
digital foundation capability, digital organizational capability, digital management capability, organizational learning, enterprise performance
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Business Administration (Accounting and Finance)
Discipline
Accounting | Finance and Financial Management
Supervisor(s)
ZHENG, Baihua; WANG, Jiwei
First Page
1
Last Page
135
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
CHEN, Demu.
From discrete manufacturing to continuous manufacturing: Examining the relationship among digital capability, organizational learning, and enterprise performance. (2025). 1-135.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/822
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.