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This study aims to explore the influence mechanism of digital platform capability on firm performance in the business-to-business (B2B) context. This study draws on the core competence theory and the resource-based view and includes resource identification, resource allocation and intrapreneurship into the research framework.

Data were collected from 167 B2B firms with survey questionnaires in central, eastern and southeastern coastal areas of China. The firms were mainly involved in e-commerce, manufacturing, service industry and internet technology. Participants were mainly middle and senior managers with a comprehensive grasp of their firms’ information.

This study found that digital platform capability has a positive impact on a B2B firm’s performance. Resource identification, resource allocation and intrapreneurship play a chain mediating role between digital platform capability and firm performance. That is, digital platform capability could promote employee intrapreneurship through resource identification and resource allocation, thereby improving firm performance.

Aiming to gain performance, firms should pay attention to the construction of digital platforms, increase venture capital investment and provide more resources to support intrapreneurship.

Based on empirical evidence, to the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to link digital platform capability and firm performance in the B2B context of emerging markets, providing a new perspective to clarify its relationship mechanism.

This study aims to explore whether digital platform capabilities (integration and reconstruction) affect technological innovation through knowledge bases in the dimensions of breadth and depth and the moderating role of organisational routines updating.

Hierarchical regression, mediation effect test macro and bootstrap were conducted to empirically analyse two waves of longitudinal survey data from 179 Chinese technology firms.

Results confirmed that knowledge bases (breadth and depth) mediated the effect of digital platform capabilities (integration and reconstruction) on technological innovation and that updating of organisational routines moderated the relationship between knowledge bases and technological innovation.

These findings offer guidance to firms that aim to achieve technological innovation and advantages, highlighting the importance of digital platform capabilities, knowledge bases and organisational routines updating.

Advancing from existing digital strategies and firm innovation literature, the authors provide a new perspective (knowledge bases) to respond to the information technology (IT) paradox and understand the role of digital platform capabilities in improving technological innovation.

This study aims to clarify why and when digital business strategy (DBS) helps manufacturing firms generate value co-creation (VC) with different stakeholders in the digital context of China. This study considers external network capability (ENC) and internal network capability (INC) as mediation mechanism, and strategic flexibility (SF) as theoretical boundary.

Questionnaires were used and filled out by executives from manufacturing firms. The manufacturing samples from 289 different fields in China were used for hypothesis testing, and the structural equation model was the main analytical method.

This study found that DBS of manufacturing enterprises has a positive impact on VC. Specifically, DBS affects firm-partner VC and firm-consumer VC through the indirect positive effect of ENC, and affects firm-employee VC through INV. The positive effects of ENC on firm-partner VC and firm-consumer VC, as well as INC on firm-employee VC, are weak at high (or low) SF, and are strongest at moderate SF.

This study provides manufacturing firms with practical insights into why and when they can implement DBS to generate VC, with a particular emphasis on the weighted role of SF.

This study spotlights gaps in the literature on why and when manufacturing firms can reap the benefits of DBS, focusing on one important business outcome – VC. The authors clarify the mediating role of differences in ENC and INC, as well as the inverted U-shaped moderating role of SF.