Effects of HRM Gaps on Exploratory Innovation in the Context of Digital Transformation: Based on Institutional Logic Theory

Against the backdrop of accelerating digital transformation, emerging market firms are undergoing profound structural adjustments. However, existing studies paid insufficient attention to how the gaps between human resource management implementation and employee perceptions affect exploratory innovation within the context of digital transformation. Drawing on institutional logic theory, we employ the multilevel polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine the effect and mechanism of the human resource management gaps on employees’ exploratory innovation, with dataset collected from 83 companies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China. We show that: (a) the significant human resource management gaps directly influence employees’ exploratory innovation; (b) the “high implementation-high perception” scenario yields the strongest employees’ exploratory innovation; (c) when the gaps are significant, its relationship with employees’ exploratory innovation follows an inverted U-shape; (d) uniqueness of human capital mediates the relationship between the human resource management gaps and employees’ exploratory innovation; (e) corporate digital maturity negatively moderates the relationship between the human resource management gaps and employees’ exploratory innovation. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for designing management policies that encourage exploratory innovation in the context of digital transformation.