The Impact of Digital Transformation on the Sustainable Growth of Specialized, Refined, Differentiated, and Innovative Enterprises: Based on the Perspective of Dynamic Capability Theory

The sustainable growth and development of SRDI (specialized, refined, differentiated, and innovative) enterprises is an important foundation for promoting critical core technology breakthroughs and achieving high-quality economic development. Digital transformation is a power source that cannot be ignored in the process of enterprise growth. Based on the dynamic capability theory, this paper takes the listed national-level SRDI “Little Giants” enterprises in China from 2015 to 2022 as the research sample and empirically analyzes the intrinsic influence mechanism of digital transformation on the sustainable growth of SRDI enterprises. The study results show that digital transformation has a positive impact on both dynamic capabilities and the sustainable growth of SRDI enterprises. Dynamic capabilities positively affect the sustainable growth of SRDI enterprises, and the coordination and integration capability and learning and absorption capability of dynamic capabilities play a mediating role between digital transformation and the sustainable growth of SRDI enterprises. In addition, this study further finds that the contribution of digital transformation to the sustainable growth of SRDI enterprises is more significant among smaller enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, and manufacturing enterprises. The findings enrich the research on the theoretical mechanisms of digital transformation for enterprise growth and provide empirical evidence and practical insights for the survival and development of SRDI enterprises and other small and medium-sized enterprises.