Abstract:

Organisations invest heavily in digital technologies to stimulate innovation, yet innovation outcomes remain uneven across firms with comparable digital capabilities. Prior research frequently models digital capabilities as antecedents of innovation and performance, positioning constructs such as agility, absorptive capacity, and flexibility as mediators. However, while mediation effects are widely reported, the organisational processes through which these mechanisms are enacted remain under-specified. This paper introduces human-centric activation as a process-level interpretation of these recurring mediation patterns. Drawing on dynamic capabilities and microfoundational perspectives, we propose that sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring depend on governance design, managerial cognition, cultural orientation, and participation structures. Based on a systematic synthesis of digital capability research, we develop a layered activation framework linking digital resources, dynamic mechanisms, innovation pathways, and performance outcomes. By reframing innovation as an organisationally enacted trajectory rather than an automatic outcome of digital investment, this developmental paper advances a more behaviourally grounded theory of digital transformation.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Innovation

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Haiyan Lu