How Lead Firm Ecosystem Leadership Enhances Industrial Chain Resilience: A Case Study of Chery

Abstract

Against the backdrop of a profound restructuring of global industrial chains, how to systematically enhance the resilience of these chains has become a central issue. As the leading entities within industrial chains, the ecosystem leadership of lead firms serves as a key driving force in enhancing their resilience. This paper takes Chery Automobile as its case study and employs the grounded theory methodology to conduct an exploratory single-case study, constructing a theoretical framework through open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The research findings are as follows: Firstly, the ecosystem leadership of lead firms comprises five dimensions: the ability to lead technological innovation, the ability to govern the industry and build ecosystems, the ability to empower through digital transformation, the ability to implement globalization strategies, and the ability to foster collaboration between government and enterprises. Secondly, lead firms strengthen the structural, spatial and evolutionary resilience of the industrial chain through four pathways: technological innovation drives breakthroughs in key core technologies; industrial governance and ecosystem building drive collaborative support and standard-setting; digital transformation drives the digital upgrading of the industrial chain; and globalization drives the diversification of supply chain risks. Thirdly, the capacity for government-enterprise collaboration, as an institutional safeguard variable running throughout the entire process, plays a moderating and supportive role through three mechanisms: legitimization, reduction of institutional transaction costs, and scaling of resource allocation. This paper examines the five-dimensional structure of the ecosystem leadership of lead firms and the transmission mechanisms via these four distinct pathways, ultimately achieving a systematic enhancement of industrial chain resilience, thereby establishing a complete causal chain between capability dimensions, intermediary pathways and levels of resilience. This study expands upon the dimensional structure of the ecosystem leadership of lead firms, providing a theoretical reference and practical insights for understanding how such enterprises can systematically enhance industrial chain resilience under open economic conditions.