The Motivations and Paths for Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprise Supply Chain —A Grounded Theory Study

供应链数字化转型已成为制造企业应对VUCA情境的关键，但是许多制造企业仍旧面临“不敢转”和“不会转”的困境。鉴于此，本文采用基于扎根理论的研究方法对典型制造企业供应链数字化转型进行剖析，识别出制造企业供应链数字化转型的动因与路径。研究发现：转型的动因涉及微观企业、中观行业和宏观环境三个层面，三者相互影响，共同作用于转型行为，进而带来了企业管理水平、协作效率和动态能力的提高。本文揭示了基于“动机–行为–绩效”的供应链数字化转型过程机理，可为制造企业的供应链数字化转型提供科学依据。Supply chain digital transformation has become the key for manufacturing companies to cope with VUCA situations, but many manufacturing companies are still facing the dilemma of “not daring to transform” and “not knowing how to transform”. In view of this, this paper adopts research method based on grounded theory to analyze the digital transformation of the supply chain of typical manufacturing companies, identifying the motivation and path of the digital transformation of the supply chain of manufacturing companies. The study found that the motivation for transformation involves three levels: micro-enterprises, meso-industries, and macro-environment. The three influence each other and work together on the transformation behavior, which in turn leads to the improvement of enterprise management level, collaboration efficiency, and dynamic capabilities. This paper reveals the evolution mechanism of the process of supply chain digital transformation based on “motivation-behavior-performance”, which can provide a scientific basis for the digital transformation of the supply chain of manufacturing companies.