Digital learning velocity and manufacturing performance: how market orientation drives innovation–efficiency sequencing under industry 4.0

Abstract

This study examines how manufacturing firms convert market sensing into superior performance under Industry 4.0 conditions by focusing on capability sequencing and learning speed. Drawing on Dynamic Capability Theory, it investigates how Market Orientation influences Organizational Performance through the sequential roles of Supply Chain Innovation and Supply Chain Efficiency, and how this process is amplified by internal learning mechanisms and external technological turbulence. Survey data were collected from 427 medium and large manufacturing firms across Asia–Pacific, Europe, and North America. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling with bootstrapping to examine direct effects, sequential mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation relationships. The results demonstrate that Market Orientation initiates adaptation by stimulating Supply Chain Innovation, which is subsequently institutionalized through Supply Chain Efficiency to drive performance. Digital Maturity alone does not generate performance gains; instead, its value materializes when combined with Digital Absorptive Capability, which accelerates the translation of innovation into efficiency. Technological Turbulence further amplifies the performance payoff of this learning-driven capability sequence. This study advances Dynamic Capability Theory by introducing learning velocity as a micro-foundation that explains why digitally mature firms exhibit divergent performance outcomes. By empirically resolving the innovation–efficiency paradox through temporal sequencing and reframing technological turbulence as a performance amplifier, the study offers a coherent explanation of how manufacturing firms transform digital investments into sustained competitive advantage.