When Does Digital Technology Adoption Enhance Firms’ Sustainable Innovation Performance? A Configurational Analysis in China

Abstract

Digital technology (DT) has been widely adopted by firms to improve their innovation performance. However, few studies have explored the diversified adoption of DTs and the impacts of their various combinations on firms’ innovation from a holistic perspective. Hence, this study identifies three categories of digital technology adoption (DTA)—enhancing, adapting, and substituting—from the perspective of business model innovation and recognizes five adopting actions corresponding to the above categories. This study aims to explore the configurative effects of DTA on firms’ sustainable innovation performance (SIP). To study this, 94 cases of Chinese high-tech manufacturing firms are collected using both the interview and questionnaire methods. The data are analyzed using a coding method and then complemented with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to understand how DTA can be combined to enhance firms’ SIP. The findings suggest that several reoccurring activity patterns may lead to high SIP. Among these patterns, enhancing always plays a crucial role. This study complements the previous research by shifting the focus from a single effect of DTA toward a more holistic view.