Strategic flexibility in dynamic environments: the game-changer in digital transformation and organizational resilience

Digital transformation (DT) is increasingly recognized as a critical enabler of organizational resilience (OR), yet the underlying mechanisms through which it operates remain underexplored. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), this study develops and tests a moderated mediation model to examine how DT enhances OR through strategic flexibility, and how this relationship is influenced by environmental dynamism. Using survey data from 289 Chinese enterprises undergoing digital transformation, the study employs hierarchical regression and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for empirical analysis. The results demonstrate that strategic flexibility partially mediates the DT-OR relationship, with the effect driven primarily by resource flexibility rather than coordination flexibility. Moreover, environmental dynamism negatively moderates the relationship between DT and strategic flexibility, suggesting that high environmental turbulence diminishes DT's positive impact on organizational adaptability. These findings extend the RBV by clarifying the resource-flexibility-resilience pathway and identifying key boundary conditions that constrain the outcomes of digital transformation.