| The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is one of the strategic emerging industries that is heavily supported by the government and is also a critical industry for maintaining the health and well-being of the people.In the process of implementing the"Healthy China" strategy,the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry plays a pivotal role.However,the majority of traditional pharmaceutical enterprises still focus on producing generic drugs and traditional Chinese medicines,and incidents of illegal sales and penalties imposed by the national financial authorities are not uncommon.In recent years,in response to issues such as "medical safety accidents,false advertising claims of therapeutic effects,and unfair competition in pharmaceutical procurement and sales," the government has vigorously promoted reform in the pharmaceutical and healthcare system It is clear that the pharmaceutical industry needs to regulate management,strengthen supervision,and promote the development of "Internet+medical and health" initiatives.The low level of innovation,the unreasonable product structure,and the high operating costs,particularly in sales,have been long-standing problems faced by China’s pharmaceutical enterprises.How pharmaceutical enterprises can overcome various difficulties in digital transformation,improve product quality and efficiency,and form core competitiveness has become an urgent problem that needs to be addressed.In recent years,digital transformation has become a hot topic of widespread concern in the business world.Its impact covers all aspects of enterprise production,management,and sales,directly affecting enterprise growth and the development of China’s digital economy.Although an increasing number of academic achievements in digital transformation have emerged,there is a lack of a unified theoretical system.In particular,there is relatively little research in the field of digital transformation of pharmaceutical enterprises,and existing studies mostly focus on the pharmaceutical industry in a specific region.The description of the reasons and implementation plans for digital transformation through induction and summarization lacks broad referenceability,making it difficult to provide guidance for the digital transformation of other pharmaceutical enterprises.Moreover,although literature has described the role of board participation in corporate governance and its impact on enterprise performance,there is a lack of research on the board’s impact on digital transformation.Based on the aforementioned issues,this paper aims to systematically investigate the antecedents and impacts of digital transformation on growth in pharmaceutical enterprises.The study focuses on 201 pharmaceutical companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2018 to 2021.The impact factors and mechanisms of digital transformation are integrated into a framework that follows a main line of"theoretical analysis-factor identification-path exploration-impact assessment." To accomplish this,the paper combines strategic consistency theory,agency theory,resource-based theory,and other theories that have inherent logical relationships with this study.Using methods such as literature analysis,theoretical deduction,and empirical research,the paper constructs a mechanism model of "antecedents-digital transformation-enterprise growth." Specifically,the paper addresses four questions:first,can a single factor form a necessary condition for digital transformation of a company?Second,what are the necessary conditions for digital transformation in pharmaceutical enterprises?Third,which driving factors will produce linkage effects and form effective antecedents that promote digital transformation of pharmaceutical enterprises?Fourth,what impact will digital transformation have on enterprise growth?To answer these questions,the paper uses the TOE framework to identify the antecedent factors that affct digital transformation in pharmaceutical enterprises.Further,by combining NCA and QCA,the paper conducts a configurational analysis of the antecedent variables of digital transformation.Finally,using multiple regression analysis,the paper examines the impact of the degree of digital transformation on enterprise growth.The research findings indicate that:the success of digital transformation in pharmaceutical companies depends on the comprehensive interaction of various internal and external factors.No single factor can be considered a necessary condition for digital transformation,and multi-level driving effects should be taken into account.Three paths,including innovation-driven under internal governance,innovation-driven with external assistance,and all-factor aggregation-driven,can promote the realization of digital transformation in pharmaceutical enterprises.Therefore,pharmaceutical companies should pay attention to the structure of the board of directors and improve its internal governance mechanism.Factors such as the combination of the two positions,independence,and scale of the board of directors have a crucial impact on the selection and implementation of digital transformation strategies.Strengthening the internal governance mechanism of the board of directors can effectively promote the realization of digital transformation in pharmaceutical enterprises.The degree of digital transformation in pharmaceutical companies presents a U-shaped relationship with enterprise growth.The improvement of the level of digital transformation will inhibit enterprise growth to some extent,but with the further improvement of the level of digital transformation,it will play a promoting role in enterprise growth.In the process of promoting the growth of pharmaceutical companies through digital transformation,reducing sales expenses has played an intermediary role.Digital transformation can help enterprises enhance their independent research and development capabilities,reduce sales expenses in business activities,and help enterprises achieve cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.This article adopts a configurational perspective to construct an analytical model consistent with practical logic,exploring the influence of different internal and external factors on the digital transformation of enterprises.In addition,this article reveals that digital transformation is the fundamental way for pharmaceutical companies to reduce agency costs and increase value creation capabilities by achieving innovation-driven high-quality development.This study has important theoretical and practical significance for nurturing a batch of high-quality digital enterprises with core competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry in China. |
