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<p>Digital transformation is commonly viewed as a top-down process; however, the high failure rate associated with this approach suggests the need for alternative strategies. From the Resource-Based View (RBV) perspective, organizational resources—including employees’ skills and capabilities—are foundational to competitive advantage, indicating that influence can also originate from employees. Focusing on China’s manufacturing sector, where over 80% of enterprises remain predominantly traditional despite government emphasis on digitalization, this study investigates how organizations can strategically leverage the digital capabilities of grassroots employees to drive digital transformation, challenging the traditional top-down model. Utilizing an individual-to-organization analytical framework, we investigate the relationship between employees’ digital capabilities and organizational digital transformation, with a focus on the mediating role of digital self-efficacy and the moderating influences of team leadership and network management. Based on empirical data from 327 employee-manager dyadic surveys conducted within 27 Chinese manufacturing enterprises actively pursuing digital transformation, the findings reveal that employees’ digital capabilities significantly enhance organizational digital transformation. Moreover, digital self-efficacy partially mediates this relationship (indirect effect significant). Crucially, transformational leadership positively moderates the effect of digital capability on digital self-efficacy, while network management (specifically relationship and portfolio management) positively moderates the effect of digital self-efficacy on digital transformation. Transactional leadership did not show a significant moderating effect. This study advances both RBV theory and digital transformation practice by demonstrating how grassroots employees’ capabilities can be strategically leveraged in manufacturing contexts, particularly in emerging economies like China facing significant skill-resource mismatches.</p>

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Implementing Digital Transformation for Manufacturing Enterprises by Leveraging Employees’ Digital Resources

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月17日

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  • Wei Li,
  • Zhou Fang,
  • Wei Chen

摘要

Digital transformation is commonly viewed as a top-down process; however, the high failure rate associated with this approach suggests the need for alternative strategies. From the Resource-Based View (RBV) perspective, organizational resources—including employees’ skills and capabilities—are foundational to competitive advantage, indicating that influence can also originate from employees. Focusing on China’s manufacturing sector, where over 80% of enterprises remain predominantly traditional despite government emphasis on digitalization, this study investigates how organizations can strategically leverage the digital capabilities of grassroots employees to drive digital transformation, challenging the traditional top-down model. Utilizing an individual-to-organization analytical framework, we investigate the relationship between employees’ digital capabilities and organizational digital transformation, with a focus on the mediating role of digital self-efficacy and the moderating influences of team leadership and network management. Based on empirical data from 327 employee-manager dyadic surveys conducted within 27 Chinese manufacturing enterprises actively pursuing digital transformation, the findings reveal that employees’ digital capabilities significantly enhance organizational digital transformation. Moreover, digital self-efficacy partially mediates this relationship (indirect effect significant). Crucially, transformational leadership positively moderates the effect of digital capability on digital self-efficacy, while network management (specifically relationship and portfolio management) positively moderates the effect of digital self-efficacy on digital transformation. Transactional leadership did not show a significant moderating effect. This study advances both RBV theory and digital transformation practice by demonstrating how grassroots employees’ capabilities can be strategically leveraged in manufacturing contexts, particularly in emerging economies like China facing significant skill-resource mismatches.