Research Spotlight: How Century Innovation Navigated Digital Transformation
Traditional printing firms face mounting pressure to evolve amid rapid technological shifts and changing market demands. A new study published in Chinese Management Studies provides a detailed roadmap based on the experience of one leading Chinese enterprise. The research, titled "Digital transformation of traditional printing firms: a case study of century innovation through resource orchestration and capability activation," examines the longitudinal journey of Century Innovation, a prominent traditional printing company in China.
Authors Jin Zhu, Zhiying Xu, Xingyuan Wang, Zhiqiang Guo, and Weiqian Qi employed a single-case methodology combined with grounded theory to trace the firm's evolution. Their work appears in Volume 20, Issue 5 of the journal, released on 11 June 2026. The full paper is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/abs/pii/S1750614X26000327.
Core Framework and Stages of Transformation
The study proposes a "context–strategy–outcome" framework that clarifies how enterprises move through digital transformation. The process unfolds across four distinct stages: digital element sedimentation, digital-intelligent formation, convergent network integration, and smart engine leap. Each stage builds on the previous one, integrating internal resources with external pressures.
Century Innovation's path illustrates how firms can progress from basic digitization to advanced intelligent systems. The research emphasizes that transformation is not linear but follows a logical sequence driven by strategic planning within specific market and technological contexts.
Dual Driving Mechanisms: Market and Technology
Market forces and technological advancements act as dual drivers, exerting bidirectional push-and-pull influences that alternate in dominance. In market-driven phases, the emphasis falls on resource mobilization to meet customer needs and competitive pressures. Technology-driven phases shift focus toward capability enhancement, enabling the firm to leverage new tools effectively.
This alternating dominance creates a "primary driver transition" mechanism. The findings show that successful transformation requires recognizing when to prioritize one driver over the other while maintaining balance between them.
Resource Orchestration in Practice
Resource orchestration emerges as a central process, evolving through four phases: Fission-Incubation, Graft-Driven Growth, Synergistic-Coupling, and Intelli-Control empowerment. These phases align with the activation of dynamic capabilities, including recognition and adoption, learning and internalization, digital collaboration, and flexible extension.
The study demonstrates a dynamic reciprocal meshing between resources and capabilities. Resource configuration tends to dominate in market-driven stages, while capability evolution leads during technology-driven periods. This "stage-coexistent" and "role-switching" characteristic offers practical guidance for managers orchestrating change.
Implications for Management Theory
By integrating resource orchestration and dynamic capabilities perspectives, the research advances understanding of enterprise digital transformation. It moves beyond generic models to reveal intrinsic mechanisms and strategic logic specific to traditional industries facing disruption.
The bidirectional interplay between market and technology drivers adds nuance to existing literature on external environmental influences. The framework provides a structured way to analyze how internal configurations interact with strategy over time.
Practical Lessons for Traditional Firms
Printing companies and other traditional manufacturers can draw actionable insights from Century Innovation's experience. The study highlights the importance of phased progression, careful alignment of resources with capabilities, and responsiveness to shifting external drivers.
Executives are encouraged to monitor market signals and technological opportunities simultaneously, adjusting emphasis as conditions change. The research underscores that digital transformation succeeds when firms treat resources and capabilities as dynamically linked rather than static assets.
Relevance to Higher Education and Research
The case study holds particular value for business schools and management researchers. It offers rich empirical material for courses on digital strategy, organizational change, and emerging markets. Faculty may incorporate the framework into curricula to illustrate real-world application of resource-based and dynamic capabilities theories.
PhD students and early-career researchers can build on the methodology, which combines longitudinal case analysis with grounded theory. The paper also raises questions about how similar processes unfold in other traditional sectors beyond printing.
Future Research Directions
The authors identify opportunities for comparative studies across industries and regions. Further work could explore how the identified stages and mechanisms manifest in smaller firms or different cultural contexts. Additional quantitative testing of the proposed framework would strengthen its generalizability.
Scholars are also invited to examine the role of leadership and organizational culture in facilitating the meshing of resources and capabilities during transformation.
Broader Industry Context
Traditional printing faces challenges from digital media, automation, and sustainability demands. Century Innovation's journey demonstrates that established firms can achieve competitive renewal through deliberate capability building and strategic resource deployment.
The research contributes to ongoing conversations about how legacy industries adapt without abandoning core competencies. It provides evidence that thoughtful orchestration can turn external pressures into opportunities for leapfrogging competitors.
Photo by Bergstrand Consultancy on Unsplash
Conclusion and Outlook
This study delivers a comprehensive account of digital transformation in a traditional printing enterprise. Its detailed stages, dual-driver model, and resource-capability meshing offer both theoretical advancement and practical guidance. As more organizations pursue digital strategies, the insights from Century Innovation provide a valuable reference point.
Academics and practitioners alike will find the paper a timely contribution to understanding how traditional firms can thrive in an increasingly digital economy. The full analysis is accessible via the provided ScienceDirect link.