IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i19p8633-d1758297.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ambidextrous Market Orientation and Digital Business Model Innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaolong Liu

    (Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Yi Xie

    (Business School, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, China)

Abstract

With accelerating digital transformation, firms must renew how they create, deliver, and capture value to remain competitive and to advance sustainable competitiveness. This study examines how ambidextrous market orientation drives digital business model innovation (DBMI) through the mediating role of digital resource bricolage and the moderating effect of environmental turbulence. Using survey data and structural equation modeling (SEM), we find that both proactive and responsive market orientations positively affect DBMI. Digital resource bricolage partially mediates both relationships, with a stronger mediation effect for responsive orientation. Environmental turbulence strengthens the association between ambidextrous market orientation and digital resource bricolage. Complementing variable-centric tests, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) identifies three configurational pathways sufficient for high DBMI, revealing alternative routes to business-model renewal under different contextual conditions. The findings extend ambidextrous market orientation research to digital contexts, enrich the resource-recombination perspective on DBMI, and provide actionable guidance for firms seeking to orchestrate data, platforms, and legacy assets to reconfigure activity systems. By clarifying when and how market sensing and shaping translate into effective digital recombination, this study informs strategies for sustainable competitiveness in turbulent environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaolong Liu & Yi Xie, 2025. "Ambidextrous Market Orientation and Digital Business Model Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8633-:d:1758297
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8633/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8633/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mary Tripsas & Giovanni Gavetti, 2000. "Capabilities, cognition, and inertia: evidence from digital imaging," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1147-1161, October.
    2. Kaartemo, Valtteri & Nyström, Anna-Greta, 2021. "Emerging technology as a platform for market shaping and innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 458-468.
    3. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    4. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Satish Nambisan, 2017. "Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 1029-1055, November.
    6. Justin J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2006. "Exploratory Innovation, Exploitative Innovation, and Performance: Effects of Organizational Antecedents and Environmental Moderators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1661-1674, November.
    7. Helfat, Constance E. & Raubitschek, Ruth S., 2018. "Dynamic and integrative capabilities for profiting from innovation in digital platform-based ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1391-1399.
    8. Jonas Soluk & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Nadine Kammerlander & Alfredo De Massis, 2021. "Family Influence and Digital Business Model Innovation: The Enabling Role of Dynamic Capabilities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 867-905, July.
    9. Cheng, Cong & Wang, Limin, 2022. "How companies configure digital innovation attributes for business model innovation? A configurational view," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Raphael Amit & Christoph Zott, 2001. "Value creation in E‐business," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 493-520, June.
    11. Mavroudi, Eva & Kesidou, Effie & Pandza, Krsto, 2023. "Effects of ambidextrous and specialized R&D strategies on firm performance: The contingent role of industry orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. G. Tomas M. Hult & David J. Ketchen & Stanley F. Slater, 2005. "Market orientation and performance: an integration of disparate approaches," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(12), pages 1173-1181, December.
    13. Neil A. Morgan & Douglas W. Vorhies & Charlotte H. Mason, 2009. "Market orientation, marketing capabilities, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 909-920, August.
    14. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    15. Sorescu, Alina & Frambach, Ruud T. & Singh, Jagdip & Rangaswamy, Arvind & Bridges, Cheryl, 2011. "Innovations in Retail Business Models," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(S1), pages 3-16.
    16. Zhou, Kevin Zheng & Brown, James R. & Dev, Chekitan S., 2009. "Market orientation, competitive advantage, and performance: A demand-based perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 1063-1070, November.
    17. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    18. Verhoef, Peter C. & Broekhuizen, Thijs & Bart, Yakov & Bhattacharya, Abhi & Qi Dong, John & Fabian, Nicolai & Haenlein, Michael, 2021. "Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 889-901.
    19. Christian Busch & Harry Barkema, 2021. "From necessity to opportunity: Scaling bricolage across resource‐constrained environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 741-773, April.
    20. Andreea N. Kiss & Dirk Libaers & Pamela S. Barr & Tang Wang & Miles A. Zachary, 2020. "CEO cognitive flexibility, information search, and organizational ambidexterity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(12), pages 2200-2233, December.
    21. Jarryd Daymond & Eric Knight & Maria Rumyantseva & Steven Maguire, 2023. "Managing ecosystem emergence and evolution: Strategies for ecosystem architects," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 1-27, April.
    22. Li, Feng, 2020. "The digital transformation of business models in the creative industries: A holistic framework and emerging trends," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Soluk, Jonas & Decker-Lange, Carolin & Hack, Andreas, 2023. "Small steps for the big hit: A dynamic capabilities perspective on business networks and non-disruptive digital technologies in SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    2. Jonas Soluk & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Nadine Kammerlander & Alfredo De Massis, 2021. "Family Influence and Digital Business Model Innovation: The Enabling Role of Dynamic Capabilities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 867-905, July.
    3. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Uršič, Dejan & Čater, Tomaž, 2025. "Digital innovation in management and business: A comprehensive review, multi-level framework, and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    5. One-Ki (Daniel) Lee & Vallabh Sambamurthy & Kai H. Lim & Kwok Kee Wei, 2015. "How Does IT Ambidexterity Impact Organizational Agility?," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 398-417, June.
    6. Chengliang Wang & Xiaojun Liu & Yang Li, 2024. "Exploring Dynamic Capability Drivers of Green Innovation at Different Digital Transformation Stages: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Azni Zarina Taha & Mozard Mohtar & Mahfuzur Rahman & Thamil Maran Periannan & Noor Ismawati Jaafar & Tey Lian Seng, 2025. "The impact of technology orientation, technology opportunism, and change orientation on the firm operational performance: a moderated-mediation analysis," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 89-110, March.
    8. Xiang, Guopeng & Peng, Mixiang & Tang, Fei & Liu, Yuan, 2024. "Unpacking the impact of entrepreneurial learning on business model innovation in internet startups: Mediating roles of digital capabilities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Björn Michaelis & Shalini Rogbeer & Lars Schweizer & Zafer Özleblebici, 2021. "Clarifying the boundary conditions of value creation within dynamic capabilities framework: a grafting approach," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1797-1820, August.
    10. Xinwei Ye & Lei Ma & Junwen Feng & Yang Cheng & Zheng Liu, 2018. "Impact of Technology Habitual Domain on Ambidextrous Innovation: Case Study of a Chinese High-Tech Enterprise," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Shih-Chang Hung, 2024. "The evolution of innovative capabilities: a longitudinal, embedded case study," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 901-925, December.
    12. Xia Feng & Sze-Ting Chen, 2024. "Break out against the tide: using ambidextrous networks and dynamic absorptive capacity to create greater value," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(3), pages 447-483, July.
    13. Liu, Zhiyang & Liu, Jianyi & Zhao, Chenfang & Qiu, Zhenyu, 2025. "Business model innovation in the age of metaverse," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    14. Dominik M. Wielgos & Christian Homburg & Christina Kuehnl, 2021. "Digital business capability: its impact on firm and customer performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 762-789, July.
    15. Mary J. Benner, 2010. "Securities Analysts and Incumbent Response to Radical Technological Change: Evidence from Digital Photography and Internet Telephony," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 42-62, February.
    16. Hazhir Rahmandad, 2012. "Impact of Growth Opportunities and Competition on Firm-Level Capability Development Trade-offs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 138-154, February.
    17. Zhang-Zhang, YingYing & Rohlfer, Sylvia & Varma, Arup, 2022. "Strategic people management in contemporary highly dynamic VUCA contexts: A knowledge worker perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 587-598.
    18. Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Hine, Damian & Coote, Len & Parker, Rachel, 2016. "Building a scale for dynamic learning capabilities: The role of resources, learning, competitive intent and routine patterning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4287-4303.
    19. Brewis, Claire & Dibb, Sally & Meadows, Maureen, 2023. "Leveraging big data for strategic marketing: A dynamic capabilities model for incumbent firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    20. Justin J. P. Jansen & Michiel P. Tempelaar & Frans A. J. van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2009. "Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 797-811, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8633-:d:1758297. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.