Digital transformation for food manufacturing firms in Taiwan: motivations and operational performance
Publication Date
July 31, 2026
Creator
Abstract
Digital transformation has become a strategic imperative for manufacturing firms aiming to enhance competitiveness, strengthen operational performance, and respond effectively to rapid technological and market developments. Yet existing scholarly work often remains fragmented, tending to focus on isolated elements of the transformation journey, such as the antecedents, implementation activities, or performance outcomes, without examining how these components interrelate to form a complete and continuously unfolding organisational process. This fragmentation limits understanding of digital transformation as an integrated phenomenon that originates from firms’ motivations to respond to institutional pressures, progresses through internal organisational conditions that shape implementation, and culminates in tangible operational outcomes. These gaps are particularly pronounced in Taiwan’s food manufacturing industry, a sector that is economically significant, highly regulated, quality-sensitive, and increasingly exposed to digitalisation pressures, but still under- represented in academic research. Its distinctive regulatory demands, operational constraints, and resource limitations make it an especially relevant context for examining digital transformation as a coherent, end-to-end process rather than a series of disconnected stages.
This study addresses these gaps by investigating the complete trajectory of digital transformation in Taiwanese food manufacturing firms through a conceptual model that integrates external institutional motivations with internal organisational contingencies. Drawing on institutional theory and contingency theory, the research examines how coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures influence firms’ motivation to pursue digital transformation; assesses the relationship between transformation practices and operational performance; and evaluates the moderating roles of two internal contingencies, digital orientation, reflecting the extent to which digitalisation is embedded within strategic direction, and digitally specialised human resources, representing technical expertise in digital tools and systems. These contingencies capture both strategic and technical dimensions of internal readiness that shape the effectiveness of digital initiatives.
A sequential mixed-method design was employed to ensure both conceptual depth and empirical robustness. Semi-structured interviews with senior managers from six food manufacturing firms in Taiwan informed the development of the quantitative survey. The subsequent survey, completed by 818 firms, was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test relationships among institutional motivations, digital transformation practices, organisational contingencies, and operational performance.
The findings demonstrate that coercive, normative, and mimetic motivations all significantly influence firms’ engagement in digital transformation, and that digital transformation is positively associated with operational performance. Crucially, the results identify a dual-contingency mechanism: digital orientation amplifies the positive effect of transformation on performance by enabling strategic coherence and organisational alignment, whereas digitally specialised human resources may weaken this relationship when technical expertise is insufficiently integrated across organisational processes, generating misalignment or resistance.
This study makes several key contributions. Theoretically, it offers an integrated perspective on digital transformation by linking institutional motivations, organisational contingencies, and performance outcomes within a single framework, thereby moving beyond the partial perspectives prevalent in prior research. It further contributes to contingency theory by demonstrating that organisational capabilities do not uniformly enhance transformation outcomes. Contextually, the study provides rare empirical insight into digital transformation within Taiwan’s food manufacturing sector, a strategically important but understudied context characterised by distinctive institutional and operational challenges. Methodologically, the combined qualitative and quantitative approach provides a rigorous foundation for examining transformation processes in traditional industries.
Overall, the research demonstrates that successful digital transformation depends not only on external institutional expectations but also on the extent to which firms align digital initiatives with internal strategic orientation and organisational practices. By offering a holistic model that connects motivations, organisational conditions, and performance outcomes, this study establishes a foundation for future longitudinal and cross-sector investigations into digital transformation.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
PhD
Supervisors
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
Nottingham University Business School (UK)
eprints ID
83109
UoN Repository URI
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IH_SU PhD thesis_final version.pdf
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Full-text
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Examined
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3.21 MB
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