Research On The Impact Of Digital Transformation On Enterprise Co-innovation

Co-innovation is a deep-level cooperative innovation paradigm with deep integration and high smoothness of resources between enterprises and other innovation entities.It is significant for overcoming the insufficient innovation ability of a single entity and realizing the goal of systematic innovation.The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19 th CPC Central Committee,the National 14 th Five-Year Plan,and other important meetings and documents have repeatedly proposed to promote co-innovation of upstream,midstream,and downstream industries in the industrial chain,as well as large and small enterprises.National ministries and commissions,provinces,and cities have also issued a series of policy documents to detail the implementation of co-innovation.However,the approach and path of driving enterprise co-innovation and building a co-innovation ecological development system are not clear and explicit at present.At the same time,with the continuous upgrading and rapid popularization of digital technology,as well as the increasingly deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy,digital transformation has become a key strategy for enterprises’ survival and long-term development.Enterprises,as a key innovation subject,have changed their resource base and the degree of resource mobility and dependence between enterprises through digital transformation,which increases the possibility of innovation resource sharing and technology integration with other innovation subjects.Therefore,digital transformation may be an important factor driving enterprise co-innovation.And according to the difference in the degree and direction of digital technology utilization,digital transformation can be divided into underlying technology application and practical digital technology application,which have different empowerment mechanisms for enterprises.So,can these two different levels of digital transformation contribute to the realization of co-innovation which is urgently promoted in China? If so,how can they make an impact? Are they constrained by a specific situation? Can they lead to an increase in firm performance? The answers to these questions not only provide an important path reference for the realization of enterprise co-innovation,but also help deepen the understanding of the enabling mechanism of digital transformation.Given this,by inducing and summarizing relevant research at home and abroad,as well as comprehensively combing the resource-based theory,resource-dependent theory,contingency management theory and value creation theory,this dissertation constructs a theoretical analysis framework of the impact of digital transformation on enterprise co-innovation,and conducts theoretical analysis and empirical testing the effect,path,cooperation context constraint and performance of digital transformation at two different levels of underlying technology application and practical digital technology application on enterprise co-innovation.This dissertation also proposes relevant policy recommendations and management implications for the government and enterprises respectively based on the research conclusions.The main research contents and conclusions of this dissertation are as follows:In response to the question of what effect digital transformation has on enterprise coinnovation,based on the resource-based theory and resource dependence theory,this dissertation investigates the effect of underlying technology application and practical digital technology application on enterprise co-innovation respectively and further analyzes the heterogeneity according to the resource endowment of the enterprise and the city where the enterprise is located.It is find that the impact of underlying technology application on enterprise co-innovation shows inverted U-shaped characteristics,and practical digital technology application has a positive effect on enterprise co-innovation.These imply that the two different levels of digital transformation can promote enterprise co-innovation,but excessive underlying technology application will have an inhibiting effect on enterprise co-innovation.Moreover,the above results are heterogeneous.For large enterprises with abundant resources and enterprises located in cities has high resource endowments,underlying technology application and practical digital technology application are more obvious in promoting enterprise coinnovation.In response to the question of how digital transformation affects enterprise co-innovation,this dissertation analyzes the path of digital transformation at different levels of enterprise coinnovation,according to the difference between underlying technology application and practical digital technology application to the enterprise empowerment mechanism.For underlying technology application,it is oriented to the internal enterprise,and continuously improves the digital degree of enterprise production,technology,and operation system,which can affect the efficiency of enterprise resource utilization and operation effect.Therefore,underlying technology application affects enterprise co-innovation by generating a first promoting and then inhibiting effect on total factor productivity and a first inhibiting and then promoting effect on business risks.The practical digital technology application is marketoriented and emphasizes the use of digital technology to integrate various scenarios in the economy and society to continuously expand the external market,which can enhance and improve the ability and opportunities of enterprises to integrate external resources.Therefore,practical digital technology application exerting a promoting effect on enterprise co-innovation by enhancing dynamic capabilities and reducing information asymmetry.In response to the question of whether the impact of digital transformation on enterprise co-innovation is constrained by specific circumstances,based on the contingency management theory and considering that enterprise co-innovation is a cooperative innovation paradigm,this dissertation specific the situation to the cooperative situation,and clarifies the boundary conditions of the impact of digital transformation on enterprise co-innovation from the three levels of enterprise,industry,and region.The result shows that with the strengthening of the corporate cooperation culture,the impact of underlying technology application and practical digital technology application on enterprise co-innovation was inhibited and promoted respectively;With the enhancement of industrial agglomeration,the practical digital technology application will be more conducive to enterprise co-innovation,while the relationship between underlying technology application and enterprise co-innovation was not changed;With the enhancement of the protection of regional intellectual property rights,the promotion effect of practical digital technology application on enterprise co-innovation will be restrained,and the inverted U-shaped effect of underlying technology application on enterprise co-innovation will be steeper.In response to the question of whether digital transformation can increase enterprise performance by influencing enterprise co-innovation,this dissertation considers that the motivation of enterprise action and decision-making is to obtain performance improvement through value creation according to the value creation theory,and continues to analyze the impact of digital transformation and enterprise co-innovation on enterprise performance.The results show that underlying technology application has an inverted U-shape impact on enterprise performance,practical digital technology application has a positive impact on enterprise performance,and co-innovation can improve enterprise performance.Moreover,enterprise co-innovation acts as a path in the process of underlying technology application and practical digital technology application affecting enterprise performance.These indicate that digital transformation can improve enterprise performance by driving enterprise co-innovation,but it is necessary to pay attention to the adverse impact of excessive application of underlying technology on enterprise performance.Compared with the existing research,the marginal contribution of this dissertation is mainly reflected in the following four aspects.Firstly,this dissertation advances the research on co-innovation.On the one hand,this dissertation constructs an enterprise co-innovation indicator system that includes multiple dimensions such as innovation achievement integration,resource integration and sharing,innovation subject integration,innovation factor flow,scientific and technological innovation collaboration,and innovation achievement transformation,which reflects the degree of enterprise co-innovation more comprehensively and objectively,and provides an important basis for exploring it’s influencing factors.On the other hand,by analyzing the realization path of enterprise co-innovation in the era of the digital economy,this dissertation points out that digital transformation can drive enterprise coinnovation because it has changed the enterprise resource base and the resource mobility and dependence between enterprises.This provides an important idea for realizing enterprise coinnovation.Secondly,by distinguishing different levels of digital transformation,based on the resource-based theory and the resource-dependent theory,this dissertation examines the effect and path of underlying technology application and practical digital technology application on enterprise co-innovation.It not only integrates the resource-related theory in the research,enriches the research on the effects and consequences of digital transformation,but also helps to coordinate the current controversy about the impact of digital transformation on enterprise innovation.Thirdly,based on the cooperation situation of enterprises,industries,and regions,the moderating effects of enterprise cooperation culture,industrial agglomeration degree,and regional intellectual property protection on the relationship between digital transformation and enterprise co-innovation were analyzed.It not only helps to comprehensively analyze the factors that affect enterprise innovation mode and the integration and smooth flow of innovation resources,but also has some enlightenment for comprehensively playing the driving role of digital transformation in co-innovation.Fourthly,this dissertation verifies that enterprise coinnovation can help enterprises achieve better performance,and digital transformation within a reasonable range can improve enterprise performance by driving enterprise co-innovation.This discovery not only confirms the necessity of promoting enterprise co-innovation at the micro level,enriches the research on the effect of enterprise co-innovation,but also verifies the rationality and scientific of the Chinese government’s promotion of enterprise co-innovation at the top-level design level.