Research On The Impact Of Digital Transformation On Enterprise Innovation

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence,cloud computing,big data and other technologies,advanced technology has not only changed people’s lives,but also pushed the real economy toward a digital economy,which has revolutionized the digital industry.With the continuous innovation and improvement of information technology,the business model of enterprises is also changing quietly.In this context,digital transformation has become a choice that traditional enterprises have to face.As the main body of technological innovation,the innovation ability of enterprises reflects the technological level and competitiveness of the country to a certain extent.The combination of data,information,intelligence and so on influences the innovation of enterprises and becomes the subject of much attention in enterprise behavior.In recent years,there have made a lot of useful explorations on how to realize digital transformation and improve enterprise innovation ability.However,there are few researches on the impact of digital transformation on enterprises,less literature on path mechanism of digital transformation affecting enterprise innovation,and less discussion on the external operating environment and internal management ability.Based on the theory of information asymmetry,digital transformation,with the help of cutting-edge technologies,enables standardized and systematic management of the massive information generated by enterprises.Internally,the business process of enterprises are more transparent and conducive to management supervision;externally,enterprises can provide more information to stakeholders,mitigate information asymmetry among stakeholders,reduce the costs consumed in the financing process of enterprises,accumulate funds for innovation activities and promote the occurrence of enterprise innovation.Based on the theory of five elements of internal control,digital transformation improves the speed of information transmission,efficient communication and exchange,flattens the internal organization of enterprises,promotes the collaboration among various departments,enhances the level of internal control,detects,prevents,reduces or eliminates the risks encountered in the innovation process more rapidly,and improves the efficiency of innovation.Based on principal-agent theory,digital-related technologies broaden the depth and breadth of corporate information access,narrow the information advantage of managers,further limit the scope of their surplus manipulation,inhibit corporate surplus management behavior,make it less likely that R&D expenditure costs will be cut,and promote corporate innovation activities.Based on resource dependency theory and meaning construction theory,business environment optimization and managerial competence,as external and internal conditions in firm development respectively,influence the role of digital transformation on firm innovation.Drawing on information asymmetry theory,internal control theory,principal-agent theory,resource dependence theory,and meaning construction theory,this paper empirically examines the relationship between digital transformation and enterprise innovation by using Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2021.The results of this paper show that(1)digital transformation promotes corporate innovation;(2)optimization of business environment can strengthen the promotion of digital transformation on corporate innovation;and(3)managerial competence can strengthen the promotion of digital transformation on corporate innovation.After passing the robustness test and the endogeneity test,the above conclusions still hold.In the mechanism test,the paths of digital transformation on corporate innovation are examined based on the perspectives of external information transparency,internal control and surplus management.Digital transformation promotes corporate innovation by enhancing information transparency,strengthening internal control ability and curbing surplus management behavior.In further research,digital transformation can promote corporate innovation efficiency and innovation quality;based on different patent types,digital transformation has a facilitating effect on different types of innovation.In the extensibility test,it is found that digital transformation contributes to the future development of enterprises by promoting enterprise innovation and contributing to the improvement of total factor productivity.The innovations in this paper are as follows:(1)It enriches the research related to innovation in the context of digital economy,based on resource attachment theory and meaning construction theory,and explores the importance of business environment on the process of digital transformation for innovation in enterprises,with a view to providing a reference for managers to better guide enterprises in their transformation.(2)We visually analyze the mechanism of digital transformation on corporate innovation and unveil the black box of digital transformation affecting corporate innovation from different perspectives.Using empirical research methods,we examine the "digital transformation-information transparency-firm innovation","digital transformation-internal control-firm innovation",and "digital transformation-surplus management-firm innovation" paths respectively." paths,enriching the research on digital transformation and corporate innovation.