Adeel Khalid , Muhammad Usman , Huda Khan , Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
{"title":"B2B digital platform capability and sustainable positioning: Do knowledge depth, knowledge breadth, and agility matter?","authors":"Adeel Khalid , Muhammad Usman , Huda Khan , Muhammad Waheed Akhtar","doi":"10.1016/j.indmarman.2025.08.005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Given the growing importance of B2B digital platform capabilities for competitive advantage, research on its antecedents and outcomes in the business-to-business context remains scarce. To address this gap, we built on dynamic capability theory to examine how B2B organizations' digital platform capabilities contribute to sustainable positioning. Specifically, we examined the direct and indirect associations (via organizational knowledge depth, breadth, and agility) between digital platform capabilities and sustainable positioning. Additionally, we explored the moderating role of leader boundary-spanning behaviors in the relationship between digital platform capabilities and organizational knowledge depth and breadth. Our study based on two-source survey data from top management in Chinese manufacturing firms. The findings fully support all our proposed hypotheses. Digital platform capabilities significantly enhance sustainable positioning, both directly and through improved organizational knowledge depth, breadth, and agility. Furthermore, leader boundary-spanning behaviors strengthen the impact of digital platform capabilities on both knowledge depth and breadth. These insights offer practical implications for B2B firms seeking to leverage digital platform capabilities to enhance knowledge depth, breadth, agility, and sustainable market positioning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51345,"journal":{"name":"Industrial Marketing Management","volume":"130 ","pages":"Pages 46-59"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Industrial Marketing Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850125001221","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Given the growing importance of B2B digital platform capabilities for competitive advantage, research on its antecedents and outcomes in the business-to-business context remains scarce. To address this gap, we built on dynamic capability theory to examine how B2B organizations' digital platform capabilities contribute to sustainable positioning. Specifically, we examined the direct and indirect associations (via organizational knowledge depth, breadth, and agility) between digital platform capabilities and sustainable positioning. Additionally, we explored the moderating role of leader boundary-spanning behaviors in the relationship between digital platform capabilities and organizational knowledge depth and breadth. Our study based on two-source survey data from top management in Chinese manufacturing firms. The findings fully support all our proposed hypotheses. Digital platform capabilities significantly enhance sustainable positioning, both directly and through improved organizational knowledge depth, breadth, and agility. Furthermore, leader boundary-spanning behaviors strengthen the impact of digital platform capabilities on both knowledge depth and breadth. These insights offer practical implications for B2B firms seeking to leverage digital platform capabilities to enhance knowledge depth, breadth, agility, and sustainable market positioning.
期刊介绍:
Industrial Marketing Management delivers theoretical, empirical, and case-based research tailored to the requirements of marketing scholars and practitioners engaged in industrial and business-to-business markets. With an editorial review board comprising prominent international scholars and practitioners, the journal ensures a harmonious blend of theory and practical applications in all articles. Scholars from North America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Asia, and various global regions contribute the latest findings to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of industrial markets. This holistic approach keeps readers informed with the most timely data and contemporary insights essential for informed marketing decisions and strategies in global industrial and business-to-business markets.