Business Ecosystem Embeddedness and SRDI SME Growth: The Roles of Organizational Resilience and Digital Leadership

Against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical conflicts and deglobalization, how Specialized, Refined, Differentiated, and Innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SRDI SMEs) can overcome resource constraints and achieve sustained growth has become an important research issue. Although prior research has recognized that business ecosystem embeddedness provides SMEs with access to external resources and growth opportunities, the mechanisms through which such embeddedness translates into the growth of SRDI SMEs in turbulent environments remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on resource orchestration theory, this study develops a theoretical model linking business ecosystem embeddedness to SRDI SME growth and examines the mediating roles of proactive organizational resilience and reactive organizational resilience, as well as the moderating role of digital leadership. Using two-wave survey data from 367 Chinese SRDI SMEs, this study tests the proposed hypotheses through regression analysis and bootstrapping. The results show that business ecosystem embeddedness is significantly and positively associated with SRDI SME growth and that proactive organizational resilience and reactive organizational resilience each partially mediate this relationship. Moreover, digital leadership strengthens the relationships between business ecosystem embeddedness and both dimensions of organizational resilience, thereby strengthening its indirect effects on SRDI SME growth through proactive organizational resilience and reactive organizational resilience. The findings provide theoretical insights and practical implications for SRDI SMEs seeking sustained growth in turbulent environments.