Research on the Activation Path of Employees’ Openness to Digital Transformation: A New Impetus to Realize Enterprises’ Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Digital transformation is an important strategic decision for the sustainable development ofenterprises, which helps enterprises achieve sustainable performance, sustainable management, andeven sustainable business models. While there have been a number of useful studies discussing theimpetus of digital transformation, most of them have neglected the role from employees, especiallytheir attitudes and perceptions towards transformation. Focusing on employees’ openness to digitaltransformation, we selected six antecedents to construct a configuration model, using fsQCA andNCA methods to explore the complex causal relationship between each antecedent and openness todigital transformation. This aims to derive the activation paths for employees’ openness to digitaltransformation, so as to help the enterprises’ digital transformation and further achieve sustainabledevelopment. Through the data analysis of 462 employees of Chinese enterprises, the followingconclusions are drawn: firstly, single antecedents are not necessary conditions for high/non-highdigital transformation openness activation; secondly, there are three configurations associated withthe high openness activation of digital transformation: a comprehensive collaboration type underinternal environment dominance (S1a + S1b), the consideration of both an internal and externalenvironment type under mindfulness characteristics’ dominance (S2), and a mindful substitutiontype under internal environment dominance (S3); and finally, there are four configurations associatedwith non-high digital transformation openness activation and an asymmetric relationship exists withthe high digital transformation openness activation path.