Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
4-2026
Abstract
As the engine driving high-quality economic development and the "cornerstone"for smooth economic circulation, the expansion of the digital intelligent economyhas become a strategic commanding height for China to compete comprehensivelyinall-round rivalry. Corporate digital transformation serves as the carrier for advancingthe development of the digital-intelligent economy, including industry-wide AI+, andplays a key role in shaping new-quality productivity and unlocking the momentumfor high-quality economic growth. In particular, since the introduction of the "MAGA"strategy by the Trump administration, China and the United States have engagedinall-round rivalry. The long-term, recurrent, and uncertain nature of geopolitical "conflicts" poses a major threat to the stability of corporate supply chains and trade. Against this backdrop in the era of the digital-intelligent economy, exploring howdigital transformation shapes corporate competitiveness and howto optimizesupporting conditions to unlock the value of digital transformation has becomeacritical issue that must be addressed in the current effort to strengthen economicresilience.
Given this, this study examines the impact of digital transformation on FirmResilience using data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2024. Theempirical results show that digital transformation significantly enhances FirmResilience, and this conclusion remains robust after a series of robustness tests, including replacing core explanatory variables, dependent variables, and conductinginstrumental variable (IV) regression. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positiveeffect of digital transformation on resilience is more pronounced for non-state-ownedenterprises, large-scale enterprises, and enterprises in the growth and maturity stages. Mechanism analysis indicates that the key channels through which digital transformation boosts Firm Resilience are as follows: first, enhancing the "immediateresponse" capability in terms of product competitiveness, operational efficiency, andstable supply chain relationships; second, strengthening the "Resource Orchestration"capability by alleviating financing constraints, improving debt financing capacity, andcurbing corporate financialization; third, driving the "convergence innovation"capability, including digital technological innovation, digital-real economy integrationinnovation, and technological innovation. Further analysis finds that technological capability and digital infrastructure construction are the key internal and external factors affecting the effect of digital transformation in empowering FirmResilience. Specifically, the technological background of employees and executives canstrengthen the resilience-enhancing effect of digital transformation, while local governments' attention to digital infrastructure and investment in computing power infrastructure can also amplify the efficacy of digital transformation.
Furthermore, this study takes a listed A company as a case study to analyze its digital transformation initiatives. It delineates the paths and mechanisms throughwhich digital transformation empowers Firm Resilience derived fromthe case, systematically sorts out the intrinsic nexus between digital transformation and FirmResilience via two research pathways (case analysis and empirical analysis), andrefines the theoretical findings. The case analysis reveals that through digital practices featuring agile organization, product empowerment, and management concept transformation, Company A has achieved robust performance amid the impact of public health emergencies. This offers valuable insights for similar traditional enterprises pursuing digital-real economy integration, i.e., empowering existingtraditional industries around the three core elements of "technology-organization-talent," thereby significantly enhancing FirmResilience.
This study offers incremental contributions as follows: 1. It examines the value of digital transformation to Firm Resilience based onalong-term time series analysis; 2. It uncovers the internal logic of the transmission process whereby digital transformation affects Firm Resilience from the three-dimensional perspectives of "immediate response " "Resource Orchestration," and "convergence innovation"; 3. It incorporates the external supporting conditions of digital infrastructureconstruction into the analytical framework of "digital transformation-FirmResilience," revealing the core mechanisms through which digital transformationoptimizes Firm Resilience. This introduces a novel perspective to the existingliterature.
Keywords
digital transformation, digital infrastructure construction, technological capabilities, firm resilience
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Business Administration (Accounting and Finance)
Discipline
Strategic Management Policy
Supervisor(s)
CHEN, Liang; ZHANG, Liandong
First Page
1
Last Page
134
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
ZHONG, Weikun.
A study of digital transformation and Firm Resilience—Based on the perspectives of technological capacity and digital infrastructure development. (2026). 1-134.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/867
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.