Internationalisation, digital technology adoption, and international performance: Evidence from Chinese Firms

Abstract

This research investigates how emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) leverage digital technologies to enhance their international performance, addressing a critical gap in understanding the mechanisms through which digitalisation shapes global competitive advantage. Comprising three distinct quantitative studies, the research explores how digital technologies improve the speed, efficiency, flexibility and control of global business ecosystems. Using EMNEs from China as the empirical context, the study integrates the composition-based view (CBV) with the new OLI framework, which emphasises open resource access, digitisation-enabled linkages, and digitisation-enabled integration. This integrated approach provides a novel theoretical lens to analyse how EMNEs pursue internationalisation strategies. It also deepens understanding of the springboard perspective by revealing how these firms utilise digital capabilities to overcome resource constraints and exploit international opportunities. The findings demonstrate that digital technology adoption is not merely operational but strategically transformative, enabling firms to build distinct competitive advantages and achieve superior international performance. Furthermore, the study highlights the critical role of managerial cognition, specifically global mindset and perceived psychic distance, in shaping how EMNEs interpret and respond to the challenges and opportunities of digital globalisation.