Can Digital Transformation Drive Green Transformation in Manufacturing Companies?—Based on Socio-Technical Systems Theory Perspective

Abstract

The current world’s green economy and digital economy collide at an accelerated pace, and the deep integration of digitalization and greening has become a new requirement for high-quality industrial transformation. Premised on a socio-technical system (STS)’s theoretical viewpoint from Chinese manufacturing firms, the study examines the effects of the digital transformation (DT) of companies on green transformation (GT), as well as the function of channels and processes. This study uses 70 samples of A-share-listed Chinese manufacturing companies from 2013 to 2020; a combination of linear regression and fsQCA is used to empirically test the research model and analyze the equivalence path. It is found that (1) DT significantly drives the GT of manufacturing firms; (2) DT influences the GT of manufacturing firms by alleviating the information asymmetry problem; and (3) executive team heterogeneity plays a positive mechanism role in the relationship between DT and GT. The qualitative comparative analysis yields two types of paths: (1) the main constructs that shape high GT levels are high DT intensity, low information asymmetry, and high TMT gender heterogeneity, which mainly arise in the eastern region and play a more pronounced role in state-owned enterprises, heavy pollution, and high-tech industries; (2) for non-state-owned enterprises in traditional industries in the central and western regions with average digital development, high TMT gender heterogeneity is the key to GT. The study expands the application of related theories and has practical implications for how Chinese manufacturing enterprises can effectively promote GT.