Value Chain Reconfiguration Mechanisms in Corporate Digital Transformation: A Longitudinal Case Study of Huawei and Midea

Abstract

The mechanisms by which value chains are reconfigured during corporate digital transformation have attracted growing attention from both academia and industry. Drawing on technology empowerment theory, we conduct a longitudinal dual-case study of Huawei and Midea to explore the dynamic evolution mechanism of value chain reconfiguration during digital transformation. Specifically, this study aims to find the pathways through which value chain reconfiguration occurs, analyze the mechanisms of value transmission, and examine the similarities and differences in reconfiguration mechanisms between infrastructure-oriented and application-oriented enterprises. The findings reveal that digital technologies serve as the engine and driving force of value chain reconfiguration by empowering resource combinations that integrate data and traditional resources to enhance resource reconfiguration capabilities, innovating resource leverage approaches, and driving value chain reconfiguration. Based on these insights, we develop a research framework of “digital technologies → resource orchestration → value chain reconfiguration.” Furthermore, the mechanism of value chain reconfiguration evolves across three stages, namely, digitalization, networking, and intelligentization. Given their different starting points, motivations, and depths of digitalization, infrastructure oriented and applicationoriented enterprises exhibit distinct mechanisms of value chain reconfiguration at different stages of digital transformation. These findings enrich the understanding of value chain reconfiguration in digital transformation and provide managerial implications for practitioners.

Keywords

digital transformation / digital technology / resource orchestration / value chain reconfiguration

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press