Digital Transformation, Enterprise Niche Resilience, and Substantive Innovation in Manufacturing Single Champion Enterprises

This study investigates the relationship between digital transformation and the substantive innovation of single champion manufacturing enterprises (SCMEs). Using panel data from listed SCMEs between 2017 and 2022, we applied a double fixed-effects model to analyze the effects of digital transformation on substantive innovation performance. The findings indicate that digital transformation significantly enhances SCMEs’ innovation performance, exhibiting a positive linear relationship. However, as the degree of transformation increases, the effect gradually diminishes, following an inverted U-shaped pattern. Furthermore, we introduced a theoretical framework of enterprise niche resilience and examined the moderating roles of niche resource resilience and niche structural resilience in the relationship between digital transformation and innovation performance. The results show that factors such as human resource resilience, capital resource resilience, supply chain resilience, and shareholder governance resilience play critical roles in enhancing innovation capabilities and supporting the digital transformation process. Finally, from the perspectives of macro-, meso-, and microenterprise niche positioning, we further discussed the heterogeneity across different regions, industrial chains, and lifecycle stages. This research provides new insights into innovation theory, niche theory, and resilience theory, offering valuable practical implications for policymakers and SCME managers to respond to global risks and drive domestic industrial upgrades.