Collaboration Integration, Knowledge Diversity, and Exploratory Innovation—The Moderating Role of Digital Transformation Strategies

Abstract

Abstract: As a significant driving force in accelerating the implementation of China’s national innovation-driven development strategy, digital transformation profoundly impacts corporate innovation patterns, knowledge structures, and management models. This study conducts an empirical analysis of 483 information and communication manufacturing companies listed in China from 2011 to 2022. It discusses the impact of internal collaborative integration and knowledge diversity on exploratory innovation within enterprises, as well as the moderating role played by corporate digital transformation strategies. The research finds that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between a company’s collaborative integration and its exploratory innovation. In contrast, knowledge diversity promotes exploratory innovation with an increasing marginal effect. It also identifies heterogeneity in the moderating effects of different digital transformation strategies on the relationships between collaborative integration, knowledge diversity, and exploratory innovation. The results provide practical insights for enterprises on how to balance collaborative integration and knowledge diversity, and how to utilize digital transformation to enhance exploratory innovation.

Key words: exploratory innovation, digital transformation, absorptive capacity, collaborative integration, knowledge diversity

Fang Yuanxin, Yu Jiang, Bai Yutong. Collaboration Integration, Knowledge Diversity, and Exploratory Innovation—The Moderating Role of Digital Transformation Strategies[J]. Management Review, 2026, 38(7): 144-156.

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