Mechanism of Digital Empowerment in the Green Innovation Process of Manufacturing Enterprises: A Case Study

Abstract

Based on the perspective of digital resource orchestration, this study uses Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai as a case study and adopts a longitudinal single case study method to explore the digital empowerment mechanism within the green innovation process of manufacturing enterprises. The study finds the following three points. (1) The digital empowerment for green innovation has evolved through three developmental stages: the traditional green development stage, the digital-driven green advancement stage, and the digital-green integration stage. Across these stages, green innovation manifests in three dimensions: process innovation, product innovation, and organizational innovation. (2) The specific process of digital resource orchestration is digital resource structuring‒digital resource bundling‒digital resource greening, which can be implemented through three distinct variations: incremental, integrative, and embedded. (3) In the traditional green development stage, dominated by policy-driven factors, improvement-oriented digital resource orchestration leads to localized green process innovation. In the digital-driven green advancement stage, where market-driven factors dominate, integrative orchestration supports green innovation across the entire value chain. In the digital-green integration stage, dominated by strategy-driven factors, embedded orchestration empowers green innovation at both the organizational and industrial-ecosystem levels.

Keywords

green innovation / digital technology / digital empowerment / digital resource orchestration / resource orchestration theory

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press