State-owned industrial enterprises (SOEs) constitute a vital pillar of China's economic development. In the digital economy era, fostering innovation-driven productivity (IDP) has emerged as a critical global priority.
This study selects 127 state-controlled listed industrial enterprises in China as its research sample. It adopts the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to explore the synergistic effect and configuration path of multiple concurrent factors on forming IDP under the dimensions of technology, organization and environment.
The findings reveal that (1) exploratory technological innovation, exploitative technological innovation, digital intelligence, resource management capability, government support and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance do not constitute necessary conditions for enhancing IDP. (2) The paths to enhancing IDP can be categorized into four types. First, the technology breakthrough-led model. This model pertains to technology-intensive enterprises across all countries, which should adopt a dual innovation strategy. Second, technology-resource empowerment. This model is suitable for enterprises with strong policy support and the capacity to bear the risks associated with technological innovation. Enterprises should strategically seek government support and carry out refined resource management. Third, technology-management synergy. This model is suitable for mature industrial organizations with a weak technological innovation base. Enterprises should carry out in-depth development and incremental innovation of existing technologies. Fourth, organization-environment dual drive. The model is suitable for enterprises with limited technical capabilities that focus on sustainable development. Companies should use ESG as a strategic asset to build non-technical competitive advantages.
This study reveals that the mechanisms uncovered possess a dual nature of being both universal and context-specific. On the one hand, the pathways based on “ambidexterity” and “dynamic capabilities” (S1 and S3) are highly transferable and applicable to industrial enterprises worldwide undergoing digital transformation. On the other hand, the S2 and S4 pathways are shaped by the institutional context of Chinese state-owned enterprises, reflecting the critical role of non-market strategies in compensating for technological shortcomings within a state policy-driven economic development model. Therefore, when applied across borders, appropriate adjustments must be made considering the local institutional environment, the degree of government intervention and the capital market's recognition of ESG performance.
This study constructs an elastic configuration model for innovation-driven productivity leapfrogging, providing a navigation map for industrial enterprises in various countries to enhance their IDP. Enterprises can utilize this model to diagnose specific institutional deficiencies and align them with appropriate innovation strategies.
First, our research is the first to systematically integrate the technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) framework with the fsQCA method to analyze the complex mechanisms underlying IDP formation in Chinese state-owned listed industrial enterprises. This provides a novel research approach and perspective for studies in the field of corporate innovation. Beyond methodological innovation, more importantly, this study moves beyond simplistic causal explanations. By incorporating IDP into a TOE-configurational perspective, it reveals how TOE factors generate synergistic effects through the “capability substitution” mechanism when SOEs confront internal institutional constraints – a subtle interplay that linear models fail to capture. For instance, we find that non-technological factors (such as ESG and resource management) can compensate for technological disadvantages and contribute to productivity leaps. This further extends the explanatory scope and application scenarios of the TOE framework. Second, we not only analyze the nonlinear relationships among the factors influencing IDP enhancement but also confirm the multiple concurrency and equifinality of pathways leading to higher IDP. This validates the nonlinear characteristics of innovation ecosystems and helps deepen readers' understanding of the antecedent mechanisms and complex pathways of IDP formation. The findings identify four types of configurational pathways, each of which supports and reinforces the core propositions of ambidextrous innovation and further clarifies the synergistic mechanisms of ambidexterity. Third, the study deepens resource orchestration theory by revealing the dynamic pivotal role of resource management capability in resource activation. Our research uncovers the symbiotic relationship between resources and technology and verifies the resonance mechanism between policy and market.
