Configuration Effect of Driving Corporate Digital Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Corporate digital entrepreneurship (CDE) is an inevitable choice for incumbent companies to obtain and maintain competitive advantages in the digital economy era, and is an innovative activity for companies to seize digital opportunities; However, the current research on corporate entrepreneurship and digital entrepreneurship lacks integration, and there is still insufficient study on the promoting mechanism of CDE. From the matching perspective of organization and environment, this paper uses fuzzy set-qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methods to explore the multiple factors and configuration mechanisms that lead to differences in the degree of CDE; The analysis of survey data from 367 companies shows that the TMT reflexivity is the necessary condition that drives CDE, while the lack of technology spillover is a necessary factor to inhibit the CDE; there are three paths that drive high-level CDE, and the three configurations of the six factors can drive high-level CDE; meanwhile there are two paths to inhibit CDE, and the two configurations of the five factors will inhibit CDE, and have an asymmetric causal relationship with the driving mechanism. These conclusions provide managerial implications for incumbent companies to carry out innovative activities and stimulate entrepreneurial vitality in the digital economy era.