Social Capital Configurations for High Sustainable Development Performance in Chinese Platform Enterprises: A Dynamic Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Balancing Flexibility and Controllability

In the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) era, platform enterprises face the critical challenge of balancing flexibility and controllability to sustain competitive advantage. Existing studies have examined these two dimensions separately but offer limited insight into their synergistic mechanisms within complex adaptive ecosystems. Drawing on the structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions of social capital theory, with a particular emphasis on institutional-level collaborative social capital among platform enterprises and their supply-chain partners, this study employs dynamic fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify the configurational pathways through which Chinese platform enterprises achieve high sustainable development performance. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed platform enterprises (2014–2024), we identify three equifinal configurational pathways sufficient for high sustainable development performance: (1) a cognitive-relational alliance-driven path, (2) a structural-relational hybrid synergy path, (3) a structural-cognitive flexible innovation path. Innovation value consensus emerges as a core condition across all pathways. These configurations are sufficient for platforms to exhibit flexible market responsiveness and strategic controllability under varying environmental conditions. The study advances social capital theory by demonstrating the multidimensional, synergistic, and context-sensitive nature of flexibility-controllability coupling in platform governance. It also provides managers with actionable insights for tailoring social capital investments to specific regional and strategic contexts.