Digital resource synergy and competitive advantage: A configurational test of digital resource theory in emerging economies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65453/ajbmr.153.1515Keywords:
Digital Resource Strategy, Scalability, Recombinability, Environment Uncertainty, Innovation Capability, Competitive Advantage.Abstract
This study examines the role of digital resource synergy in driving competitive advantage and innovation capability within the framework of Digital Resource Theory (DRT). While the Resource-Based View (RBV) emphasizes the importance of valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources, it remains limited in explaining value creation in digital environments characterized by interconnected and scalable technologies. Addressing this limitation, the study investigates how AI capability, data resources, and cloud infrastructure jointly influence firm performance through digital resource synergy. A quantitative research design was employed using survey data collected from firms operating in digitally active sectors in Nigeria, with a response rate of 78.9%. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that AI capability and cloud infrastructure significantly enhance digital resource synergy, while data resources alone do not. Digital resource synergy, in turn, has a strong positive effect on both competitive advantage and innovation capability and mediates the relationship between digital resources and performance outcomes. Additionally, scalability strengthens the effects of AI and cloud infrastructure on competitive advantage, whereas environmental uncertainty does not significantly moderate the synergy–performance relationship. The study contributes to theory by empirically validating Digital Resource Theory and introducing digital resource synergy as a key mechanism of value creation. Practically, it highlights the importance of integrating digital technologies rather than investing in them in isolation.
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