Full metadata record
| DC Field | Value | Language |
|---|---|---|
| dc.contributor | Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies | en_US |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Lo, K. Y. Chris (LMS) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Yeung, Andy (LMS) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Cheng, T. C. Edwin (LMS) | en_US |
| dc.creator | Liu, Linlin | - |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/13768 | - |
| dc.language | English | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | en_US |
| dc.rights | All rights reserved | en_US |
| dc.title | Impact of digitalization on firms’ operational, financial and innovation outcomes : three empirical studies | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | In the context of the rapid development of the digital economy in the Industry 4.0 era, digitalization is profoundly transforming the internal management and external competitive environment of firms. Increasingly, firms are recognizing the immense potential of digitalization and are investing heavily in digital technologies and activities. By actively engaging in digital initiatives, they aim to optimize operational efficiency, enhance financial competitiveness, and achieve higher levels of innovation, thereby gaining a competitive advantage both in the present and in the long term. However, many firms (e.g., Nokia and Blackberry) have been unable to make effective decisions regarding these initiatives or investments, thus losing opportunities to grasp critical business opportunities or achieve breakthrough improvements. Such ineffective decisions are often attributed to the lack of alignment between firms' external or internal environments and their implementation of digitalization. In this dissertation, with consideration on the alignment between digitalization and relevant environmental factors, we conduct three interrelated empirical studies to examine the effectiveness of digitalization with respect to operational, financial, and innovation outcomes. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 1 focuses on firms' utilization of digitalization for improving operational efficiency, a crucial indicator of a firm's internal process and resource management effectiveness. Given digitalization's unique integration with firms' existing production resources, routines, capabilities, and the creation of a distinct and valuable operational model, we utilize the Resource-based View (RBV) framework. This perspective posits that digitalization aids firms by enabling the integration of resources, the formation of routines, and the generation of capabilities, thereby fostering efficient operational models that are difficult for competitors to replicate. Following the RBV logic, we propose that the effectiveness of digitalization in enhancing operational efficiency hinges on both the environmental stability and the firm's internal steadiness, indicating that the degree of uncertainty a firm encounter moderates digitalization's impact on operational efficiency. Using a longitudinal dataset collected from multiple sources employing innovative methodologies, including natural language processing (NLP) to analyze digitalization-related announcements from Factiva, conducting a comprehensive analysis of uncertainty by measuring it in three levels, namely, macro, industrial, and firm levels, and measuring operational efficiency based on the stochastic frontier approach (SFA), this study analyzes the impact on digitalization of 2,520 samples from 496 listed firms in North America from 2015 to 2021. The results indicate that digitalization effectively enhances firms' operational efficiency. Uncertainty of macro- and industrial-levels negatively impact digitalization's effectiveness in enhancing operational efficiency, whereas the uncertainty of firm-level does not influence the relationship significantly. To sum up, the first study offers empirical evidence on digitalization's effectiveness in operational efficiency and identifies uncertainty as a significant factor in this relationship. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 2 aims to understand whether and how firms' digitalization adoption is able to improve financial performance, a key metric reflecting a firm's current competitive strength in the market. Although digitalization has been widely viewed as a new tool in enhancing performance, many firms have found that the resulting financial returns sometimes was not up to the anticipated level. Under what conditions or how firms optimize digitalization's financial effectiveness is often a crucial concern for executives. Based on the Dynamic Capability View (DCV), the effective harnessing of digitalization's myriad functions to gain financial return depends on if the firm is embedded in a digitalized ecosystem. In this study we identify diversification with respect to location, product, and technology as a relevant strategy for firms to develop a digital ecosystem, thereby optimizing the effectiveness of digitalization in improving firms' financial performance. Based on DCV framework, we posit that diversification allows firms to sense, seize and synergize disparate resources, leading to enhanced financial outcomes. Using a dataset comprising 3,419 observations across 754 firms spanning from 2015 to 2021 from multiple sources (Factiva, Compustat and USPTO) and innovative analysis methods, including NLP as in Study 1, alongside conducting a unique comprehensive analysis of diversification by measuring it from geographical, product and technological perspectives, Study 2 examines digitalization's impact on financial performance and the moderating effect from the diversification strategy on this impact. The results suggest that digitalization is positively associated with firms' financial performance, and that diversification can create a conducive condition facilitating digitalization's financial effectiveness. To sum up, Study 2 provides important implications for digitalization's effectiveness, for diversification's literature and furnish recommendations for executives who consider adopting digitalization to enhance financial outcome in firms. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 3 investigates digitalization's impact on innovation, a vital metric for assessing a firm's potential for future growth. Although it has been incorporated into core strategies to gain a competitive edge in firms, digitalization was thought predictive in data-driven decision making but unlikely to be creative, despite its acknowledged potential. Given that digitalization serves as a bridge between the processes of recognizing, assimilating, and applying valuable external knowledge effectively which are intrinsically connected to innovation, we employ the Absorptive Capacity Theory (ACT) as the theoretical framework in Study 3. According to ACT, digitalization can identify new knowledge sources, enhance knowledge sharing for assimilation and advance information processing capabilities for its application, thereby facilitating the absorption of external insights into innovative outcomes. Further, to delve into a nuanced understanding of how digitalization can be strategically leveraged across different types of innovation, Study 3 further differentiates innovation into two dimensions, putting forward that different innovation dimensions driven by digitalization depend on both stable resources and creative capabilities. With this conceptualization, this study identifies resource slack and learning capability as potential moderators influencing the impact from digitalization on the two innovation dimensions. Using a panel dataset of 1,430 firm-year observations spanning from 2015 to 2021 and employing various data collection methods from sources including Factiva, Compustat, and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Study 3 offers evidence to indicate that digitalization enhances both dimensions of innovation, namely, innovation quantity and innovation quality, and that learning capability can strengthen the enhancement to both innovation quantity and innovation quality whereas resource slack can only strengthen the enhancement to innovation quantity. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Taken together, the three studies in this dissertation underscore the pivotal role of digitalization in enhancing firms' operational efficiency, financial performance and innovation outcomes, and further delves into the underlying moderating factors that make the enhancement varying across firms. The theoretical frameworks and empirical findings presented in this dissertation provide valuable insights for future studies on digitalization and guide firms in leveraging digitalization to secure a competitive edge. | en_US |
| dcterms.extent | xv, 191 pages : color illustrations | en_US |
| dcterms.isPartOf | PolyU Electronic Theses | en_US |
| dcterms.issued | 2025 | en_US |
| dcterms.educationalLevel | Ph.D. | en_US |
| dcterms.educationalLevel | All Doctorate | en_US |
| dcterms.LCSH | Business -- Data processing | en_US |
| dcterms.LCSH | Industrial management | en_US |
| dcterms.LCSH | Technological innovations -- Economic aspects | en_US |
| dcterms.LCSH | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations | en_US |
| dcterms.accessRights | open access | en_US |
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