A New Path of Digital Governance for Diversified Industrial Groups: Using Maturity Assessment to Advance Penetrative Supervision and Transformative Governance

Diversified conglomerates are facing increasing complexity in digital transformation governance due to diversified business, uneven digital capabilities, and fragmented strategic alignment. Traditional governance models—characterized by rigid control and fragmented oversight—are ill-suited to the data-driven, adaptive, and integrative nature of digital transformation. Drawing on the case of CITIC Group, this paper conceptualizes maturity assessment as a novel governance mechanism that transforms evaluation into a continuous learning and coordination process. The research employs a qualitative case study combined with document analysis and semi-structured interviews to examine how the Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment System (DTMAS) reshapes governance from three dimensions: visibility, precision, and motivation. The findings suggest that maturity assessment serves as an institutionalized tool of governance through enablement, facilitating strategic coherence, differentiated empowerment, and sustained innovation across heterogeneous subsidiaries. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of digital governance maturity and offers actionable implications for conglomerates seeking to build intelligent, participatory governance frameworks in the era of digital transformation.