Driving Factors and Mechanisms of AMT Application Levels for Equipment Manufacturing Enterprises: Based on Programmatic Grounded Theory

Abstract

As a major part of the global manufacturing industry attaining technological upgrades, the adoption and application of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) plays a vital role in the development of enterprises. Thus, it is of the utmost significance to examine the driving factors that affect AMT application levels in equipment manufacturing enterprises. Through extensive interviews, the use of the qualitative research method of grounded theory, and the three-stage coding of the interview data from intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration enterprises and projects, this study identified the key influencing factors for the AMT application levels of equipment manufacturing enterprises. We obtained 46 concepts and extracted 18 key categories and 6 main categories. Then, the logical relationships between the main categories were established. Finally, a driving factor model for the AMT application levels of equipment manufacturing enterprises was constructed. The results reveal that the driving factors that affect the AMT application levels of equipment manufacturing enterprises can be summarized as capability factors (technical capability, market capability, and management capability), motivation factors (material incentives and development incentives), and opportunity factors (external stakeholders). Overall, this study proposed a mechanism from the three aspects of ability, motivation, and opportunity.

1. Introduction

As a crucial component of the global manufacturing industry attaining technological upgrades, advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) will not only augment production efficiency and achieve “economies of scale”, but also enhance organizational flexibility to fulfill the needs of “multivariety, small-batch” production and manufacturing within today’s market to realize “economies of scope.” In the context of the world’s journey towards the fourth industrial revolution, AMT carries great expectations for technological innovation and economic efficiency convergence, and plays an important role in improving product manufacturing quality, reducing resource consumption, and reducing environmental pollution in the process of global manufacturing reform and economic development. Therefore, the Chinese government attached great importance to the introduction and application of AMT and successively issued national development plans, including the National Program for Medium-to-Long-Term Scientific and Technological Development (2006–2020), Intelligent Manufacturing (2016–2020), and Made in China 2025. In addition, a series of policy documents proposed that AMT application is crucial to improving the manufacturing capacity of Chinese enterprises and that it is of great strategic significance for attaining manufacturing power. However, in many cases, AMT investment is criticized for not yielding the desired results. Numerous factors affect AMT application levels to a certain extent. Thus, it is critical to identify the driving factors of AMT application levels in manufacturing enterprises in order to clarify their decision making.

AMT is a complex and multidimensional concept that includes human–machine–object system engineering, from market demands, product design, production processes, and manufacturing processes to market feedback. This study aimed to examine the success factors that affect the utilization levels of AMT. AMT is an exogenous information technology that signifies a new technology for application organizations. Thus, the key factors that affect the consequences of an organization’s adoption of new technologies need to be identified. The existing research is divided into three categories, comprising technical factors, technology organization matching, and organizational factors [1]. Among them, studies focusing on the impacts of the characteristics of the technology itself on the consequences of the technology’s application (for example, the technology acceptance model (TAM)) highlighted that the cognitive usefulness and ease of use of the technology determine an individual’s attitudes and behaviors in terms of technology use [2]. Technology application research seemed to take note of technical characteristics; however, these cannot explain why the application of the same technology in different organizations can lead to different results, i.e., the problem of “one technology package, two results” [3]. Organization technology matching emphasizes the effects of matching information technology to individual organizations (in terms of data and processes, their corresponding adaptation, organizational resistance, and other factors) on the success of the technology application [4].

This study was based on technical organizational factors and nontechnical factors. Some studies extensively explored the driving factors of AMT application levels, such as the existing technical capabilities [5], human resource practices [6], organizational structure [7], organizational culture, and organizational strategy formulation [8]. Relatively few systematic studies are currently available on the influencing factors of AMT application levels. The research objects covered manufacturing enterprises that implement AMT, along with departments that apply IR and FMS within those enterprises. The research methods primarily used multiple regression models for econometric analyses and structural equation models for empirical analyses, but are lacking in research that is rooted in specific local enterprise cases. In the context of the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, as well as being supported by extensive research literature and related data, this study explored the driving factors of AMT application levels and addressed the following questions: what factors drive the formation and development of AMT application levels, and what are their internal mechanisms? Based on the relevant literature, this research used coding programs and technology based on the programmatic grounded theory to analyze intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration enterprises and projects, supported by the Tianjin Industrial and Information Technology Bureau, and proposed a theoretical model of the driving factors of the AMT application levels of enterprises and their mechanisms of action.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the literature review. Section 3 presents the research design. Section 4 and Section 5 explore the theoretical model and the mechanisms of action, respectively. Section 6 concludes the paper.

2. Literature Review

The theoretical research on driving factors of the AMT application level in equipment manufacturing enterprises attained some results, laying a crucial literature foundation for the theoretical deduction of this study. According to the process shown in Figure 1, this study systematically combed the relevant literature at home and abroad, excavated and collected the research perspectives and conclusions on the driving factors of the AMT application level, and listed them per the categories of driving factors. We initially obtained 66 driving factors of application AMT (if the conclusion was repeated, it was not recorded repeatedly). The 66 driving factors obtained from the preliminary analysis were processed by merging similar items according to the relationship between similarity and category. Finally, we obtained 15 driving factors. Figure 1 shows the identification process of the driving factors of the AMT application level in manufacturing enterprises.

Furthermore, the identified 15 driving factors were classified and integrated. “Ability, Motivation, Opportunity” (AMO) was used to examine the mechanism of improving the AMT application level. In recent years, the AMO framework was also applied to cross-border organizations, such as researchers discussing the knowledge transfer between trading enterprises [9,10]. Among them, motivation denotes the willingness to engage in a practice; opportunity denotes whether certain resources or external conditions exist to conduct a practice; and ability implies having knowledge, skills, and experience to conduct a practice [9]. These three factors were closely linked and mutually reinforcing.

2.1. Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Factors of Technical Capacity Related to the AMT Application Level

The pursuit of enterprise performance is the fundamental motivation for enterprises to apply AMT. The existing research showed that the specific factors driving the enhancement of technical capability could be categorized into the following three aspects: technology integration [11], technical strategy [12], and technological innovation [13]. For enterprises, the most direct benefit of adopting AMT from outside enterprises is the lack of flexible production capacity, which decreases production costs, enhances production efficiency, and promotes enterprise innovation through technological advantages.

Table 1. Research status of the driving factors of technical capacity related to the AMT application level.

Driving Factor	Driving Mechanism	Principal Researcher
Technology integration	AMT is integrated between marketing, engineering, production, and after-sales maintenance by computer.	Rosanh et al. (2004) [11]; Nielsen (2010) [14]; Kiel et al.(2017) [15]; Szalavetz (2019) [16]
Technical strategy	Through the implementation of AMT, enterprises have attained competitive priority in manufacturing strategies, such as cost, quality, flexibility, and reliability/delivery.	Dangayach and Deshmukh (2003) [12]; Efstathiades et al. (1999) [17]; Lewis and Boyer (2002) [18]; Niaki et al. (2019) [19]
Technological innovation	By implementing AMT in enterprises, product innovation, process innovation, and market innovation are promoted.	Hewitt-Dundas (2004) [20]; Raymond et al. (2009) [13]; Barge-Gil and Jesus Nieto (2011) [21]; Bourke and Roper (2016) [22]; Müller et al. (2018) [23]; Stornelli (2021) [24]

shows the driving mechanism and related research on technological upgrading.

2.2. Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Factors of Management Capacity Related to the AMT Application Level

Many studies examined the driving factors of the AMT application level from the perspectives of human resources, organizational structure, and organizational culture. Among them, the representative research conclusions included three aspects: conducting education and training for human resources within the organization [21], cross-team cooperation [25], flattening the organizational structure due to the reduction in management levels [7], and emphasizing cultural flexibility [26].

Table 2. Research status of the driving factors of management capacity related to the AMT application level.

Driving Factor	Driving Mechanism	Principal Researcher
Human resources	The education and training of workers and team cooperation are key factors that affect the AMT application level.	Hewit-Dundas (2004) [20]; Ranta and Tchijov (1990) [26]; Beatty (1992) [27]; Snower and Lindbeck (2000) [28]; Song et al. (2007) [29]; Sjödin et al. (2018) [30]
Organizational structure	The simplification of the organizational level and the organic structure are conducive to the successful implementation of AMT.	Millen and Sohal (1998) [31]; Cardoso et al. (2012) [7]; Teixeira et al. [32]
Organizational culture	The successful implementation of AMT tends to adopt a flexible-oriented culture in a more favorable environment to simplify the implementation.	Bates et al. (1995) [33]; Ungan (2004) [34]; Zammuto and O’Connor (1992) [25]; Fu et al. [35]; Bibby and Dehe (2018) [36]; Ghobakhloo (2019) [37]

shows the driving mechanism and related research on management capability.

2.3. Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Factors of Material Incentive Related to the AMT Application Level

The material incentives are the external driving factor in increasing the AMT application level. Material incentives drive AMT at two levels: monetary incentives and nonmonetary incentives. Monetary incentives denote high salaries [7], while nonmonetary incentives denote equity incentives [38] and welfare security [39]. Monetary incentives primarily adjust employees’ behaviors and attitudes through the salary structure. With equity incentives, out of the expectation of future incentives, employees will be more active, thereby making the incentives more effective. Welfare plans, such as pensions and medical insurance, ensure that human capital remains in good condition.

Table 3. Research status of the driving factors of material incentive related to the AMT application level.

Driving Factor	Driving Mechanism	Principal Researcher
Salary incentive	Attract the maximum potential of employees through the difference in personal salary and effectively use new technology.	Tsai and Yang (2014) [40]; Singh et al. (2007) [41]
Equity incentive	By providing equity incentives to enterprise management members and core technology employees, the enterprise operating efficiency and technological innovation performance are promoted.	Legros and Newman (2015) [38]; Cai (2015) [42]; Wu et al. (2022) [43]
Welfare guarantee	Providing medical care and vacations plays a vital role in ensuring that employees are in good condition.	Swift and Campbell (1998) [44]; Narain et al. (2007) [39]

shows the mechanism of material incentives and related research.

2.4. Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Factors of Development Incentives Related to the AMT Application Level

Motivation is the internal driving factor of the AMT application level. The existing research shows that the specific factors driving development incentives and promotion can be categorized into the following three aspects: employee participation [45], employee satisfaction [6], and employee career development [46]. For enterprises, they have the appropriate decision making power to fulfill the requirements of mass-customized production; employees care about job satisfaction, job safety, and the impact of career management and human resource planning on technological change.

Table 4. Research status of the driving factors of development incentives related to the AMT application level.

Driving Factor	Driving Mechanism	Principal Researcher
Employee participation	Giving employees extra autonomy and encouraging them to participate in decision making are conducive to the successful implementation of AMT.	Waldeck (2007) [45]; Song et al. (2007) [29]; Womack (1991) [47]
Employee satisfaction	Work safety, comfortable working environment, and happy working relationship in enterprises are conducive to promoting AMT application.	Yu and Shen (2011) [6]; Gunasekaran et al. (2001) [48]
Employee career development	The role of human resource planning, goal recognition, and career management in technological change and application.	James (2002) [49]; Gupta and Singhal (1993) [50]; Cano and Cano (2006) [46]

shows the driving mechanism of development incentives and related research.

2.5. Theoretical Analysis of the Driving Factors of External Stakeholders Related to the AMT Application Level

The macro-environment of an enterprise influences the AMT application level from the outside. Previous studies investigated the factors affecting the external environment of enterprises from the dimensions of government support and interdependence with suppliers and industrial organization interaction. Among these factors were how governments subsidize companies to plan and implement their technologies [51], AMT users encouraging flexibility in their suppliers [51], and research institution interactions (including universities) markedly helping to enhance the utilization of AMT [52].

Table 5. Research status of the driving factors of external stakeholders related to the AMT application level.

Driving Factor	Driving Mechanism	Principal Researcher
External organization interaction	Enterprises promote the AMT application through government subsidies, suppliers, and industrial organizations.	Gunter and Lay (1993) [51]; Singh (2010) [52]; Bessant and Rush (1993) [53]; Ancarani et al. (2019) [54]; Dachs et al. (2019) [55]; Samford et al. (2017) [56]; Yeh and Chen (2018) [57]

shows the mechanism and related research of external stakeholder driving.

2.6. Integrated Analysis of AMO Driving Factors of the AMT Application Level

The existing research shows that the improvement of the AMT application level in enterprises stems from multiple fields and aspects, from the external stakeholders of enterprises, to the internal technical capabilities, management capabilities, organizational material incentive, and development incentive. We integrated and analyzed the driving factors of enterprises’ AMO at the AMT application level through a systematic literature review. Finally, the driving factor system (5 driving dimensions and 15 driving factors) is defined, and the mechanism and results of each driving dimension are comparatively analyzed (

Table 6. Comparison of table-driven dimensions.

Driving Dimension	Driving Factor	Mechanism of Action	Action Result
Technical capability	Technology integration	Pursuing the operational performance and innovative output of the enterprise’s production and innovation links.	Operational priorities, new technologies and other innovations.
	Technical strategy
	Technological innovation
Management capability	Human resources	Human resource recruitment, training, team training, organizational level adjustment, and transformation to organic culture promote the AMT application.	Improvement of enterprise management capacity
	Organizational structure
	Organizational culture
Material incentive	Salary incentive	Through the material incentive, senior management personnel, core technical personnel, and production site workers are encouraged to actively learn and actively respond to the transformation of the production mode brought by the new technology.	Overall improvement of employees’ technical level
	Equity incentive
	Welfare guarantee
Development incentive	Employee participation	Encourage employees to actively respond to the changes in production methods brought about by new technologies by giving them authorized responsibilities, a safer and more comfortable working environment, and clear target planning.	Overall improvement of employees’ technical level
	Employee satisfaction
	Employee career development
External stakeholders	External organization interaction	Promote the AMT application from the external environment, such as government, suppliers, and industrial institutions.	Actively affect the external environment of enterprises.

).

3. Research Design

3.1. Research Methods

The applicability and superiority of the grounded theory in this study were as follows: ① The AMT application level was driven by multiple factors. Owing to its inherent limitations, traditional statistical analysis techniques and methods make it easy to omit some important qualitative data, and it is challenging to reveal the fundamental contents hidden in the relevant information. Using the grounded theory research method, through extensive interviews with equipment manufacturing enterprises, we prepared a more detailed description, analysis, and induction of the action mechanism of the influencing factors of AMT application level, which is a useful supplement to the existing quantitative research. ② The improvement of the AMT application level is a complex and dynamic process. The grounded theory can track the internal characteristics and logical connection of dynamic phenomena.

We adopted grounded theory, a classical qualitative research method, which was first proposed by sociologists Galser and Strauss [58]. As a new qualitative research method, grounded theory overcomes the defects of general qualitative research, such as a lack of normative methodological support, difficulty tracing and testing the research process, and weak persuasion of the conclusions [59], so it is known as the precursor of the “qualitative revolution” [60]. Grounded theory is based on the collation and analysis of the collected practical information, using systematic procedures to refine the concepts that reflect a certain phenomenon and find the relationship between categories, and then promote it to a theory [61]. Compared with quantitative empirical research, researchers generally do not build theoretical assumptions before the start of research. They start with actual observation, summarize experience from the original data, and then reach the systematic theory. Based on different understandings of grounded theory by different scholars, in the subsequent development and evolution of grounded theory, three schools were formed: the classical grounded theory school represented by Glaser et al. [58], the programmatic grounded theory school represented by Strauss et al. [62], and the constructive grounded theory school represented by Charmaz et al. [63]. So far, the programmatic grounded theory proposed by Strauss and Corbin is the most widely used of the three schools of grounded theory. Therefore, this paper mainly adopts the programmatic grounded theory represented by Strauss et al.

Programmatic rounded theory is characterized by clear theoretical structure and clear procedure operation. When using grounded theory, we first collected and preprocessed the data in the early stage, then encoded the data at three levels, and finally built the theoretical model and tested the saturation. Meanwhile, programmatic grounded theory also provides specific operation steps: the first-level coding is open coding, which conceptualizes the data; the second-level coding is spindle coding, which is further summarized to form the main categories of interrelated; and the third-level coding is selective coding, which constructs a typical relational structure model [62]. The research process is shown in Figure 2.

3.2. Sampling

In this study, the case selection process was divided into the following two stages:

The first stage was to determine the list of alternative enterprises. To ensure the representativeness, typicality, and comprehensiveness of the selected equipment manufacturing enterprises, we selected the enterprises where intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration enterprises and projects were supported by the Tianjin Industrial and Information Technology Bureau. The Tianjin Industrial and Information Technology Bureau began selecting some intelligent manufacturing projects as special fund projects for intelligent manufacturing in 2018. By 2021, 1726 intelligent manufacturing special fund projects were selected. Considering the availability and comprehensiveness of data, we took the equipment manufacturing enterprises in special fund projects for intelligent manufacturing as alternative research objects when selecting intelligent transformation enterprises.

The second stage was to determine the final research case. The final case was determined per the accessibility of information and data, the typicality of the selected cases, and the industry attributes where the enterprise is located. The accessibility of information ensured that the information collected was as complete and operable as possible to ensure the study effectiveness. In terms of the typicality of selected cases, the selected cases should represent the actual situation of AMT application in equipment manufacturing enterprises. In terms of the industry attribute, the equipment manufacturing industry involved seven industries, and the development characteristics of each industry were different. Thus, the selected enterprise should cover different industries of the equipment manufacturing industry to ensure the validity and applicability of the research conclusions. The nature of the enterprise involved private enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and joint ventures. Different periods of enterprise development involved enterprises in different stages, such as start-up, development, and maturity. The production type of enterprise involved standard products and nonstandard products. Sales of products of enterprises involved export and domestic sales.

In this study, twelve case enterprises were divided into modeling groups and inspection groups; of these, the modeling group included nine equipment manufacturing enterprises, and the inspection group included three equipment manufacturing enterprises. The inspection group was used to test the theoretical saturation of the theoretical model of driving factors in the process of intelligent transformation, and the modeling group was used to construct the theoretical model of driving factors in the process of intelligent transformation. The final 12 typical enterprise cases were selected as research samples (

Table 7. Sample enterprises of the driving factors of the AMT application level in equipment manufacturing enterprises.

Serial Number	Enterprise Name	Industry	Case Use
1	Tianjin Boyiqidong Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Instrument and cultural office supplies machinery manufacturing industry	Modeling
2	Chenxing (Tianjin) Automation Equipment Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
3	Tianjin Automobile Mould Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Transportation equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
4	Tianjin Bonuo Zhichuang Robot Technology Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Electronics and Communication equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
5	Tianjin Saixiang Technology Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Special equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
6	Tianjin Aerospace Changzheng Rocket Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Electronic and communication equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
7	Tianjin Xiaoquan Precision Metal Products Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Metal products manufacturing industry	Modeling
8	Tianjin Jingcheng Machine Tool Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	General machinery manufacturing industry	Modeling
9	Danfoss (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Electrical and equipment manufacturing industry	Modeling
10	Tianjin Huajian Tianheng Transmission Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	General machinery manufacturing industry	Inspection
11	Tianjin Lishen battery Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry	Inspection
12	Hitachi Elevator (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China)	Special equipment manufacturing industry	Inspection

).

3.3. Data Collection

Per the triangulation method proposed by Yin [64], we used various data sources and data collection techniques to collect data and used the diversity of data sources to cross check and complement each other. First-hand information was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews and on-site observation, and second-hand information was collected through official websites and literature reviews. First-hand data collection methods included semi-structured, one-to-one, in-depth interviews and field observation. Our team went to Boyiqidong, Xingchen Automation, and other high-end equipment manufacturing enterprises to conduct on-the-spot investigation and conducted in-depth interviews with many middle and senior managers as well as professional and technical personnel, such as senior managers accountable for the operation and development of enterprises. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner, and the interview time was not less than one hour for each person. After the interview, the information obtained was sorted out and summarized in time, and a more comprehensive understanding of the development process of the enterprises was obtained through the interviews. For some questionable data and fuzzy events, further communication was conducted, primarily by telephone or email, to ensure the reliability and validity of the interview data. The second-hand data were primarily obtained from the official websites of equipment manufacturers such as Tianqi Model, Saixiang Technology, Long March Rocket, Koizumi Metal Products, Jingcheng Machine Tool, and Danfoss. The information released by official websites was obtained from WeChat Official Account, academic papers, and news reports of equipment manufacturers such as Boyiqidong, Tianqi Model, Bono Zhichuang, Saixiang Technology, Long March Rocket, and Jingcheng Machine Tool found on CNKI. In this study, first-hand data were the main analysis objects, while second-hand data mainly played the role of auxiliary verification. Through multi-channel data cross examination, the consistency of viewpoints and the accuracy of materials were ensured. The validity of theoretical construction was then improved.

4. Data Analysis

4.1. Open Coding

Open coding was the first stage of implementing the coding program of the programmed grounded theory; it denotes the comparative analysis of the original data obtained by the research word by word, and the original concepts were generated from it. Owing to the huge number of original concepts and semantic intersection, through the reanalysis and comparison between concepts, the invalid original concepts with <2 repetitions and contradictory concepts were eliminated, and only the valid original concepts with ≥3 repetitions were kept, and a higher level of concept category was refined to realize the conceptualization and categorization of the original data. In open coding, by setting up a coding group, the group constantly revised and checked the concepts and categories that appeared in the research, and then repeatedly compared the logical relationships among them. Finally, 46 concepts were obtained, and 18 categories were extracted through categorization. To avoid the influence of two extreme phenomena, namely redundancy and inadequacy of original concepts, each category only contained 2–5 concepts and original sentences.

Table 8. Examples of open coding categorization.

Original Statement	Conceptualize	Categorization
Company developed YH606 CNC arc gear cone gear milling machine, YH6250A CNC arc gear cone gear pulling machine, JCC32M CNC cyclone gear milling machine, YHL9380 type CNC gear-inverted machine; these new products reflect the mainstream demand of the market as the entry point and innovation point of product upgrading, to fulfill the expectations, concerns, and aspirations of high-end machine tool users to the greatest extent	User product requirements	User
We have enhanced the application of the device’s perception system in the customer’s site through the Internet of Things, and through the big data system, we can understand the user’s operation habits, detect the running state of the device, monitor the data of the device parts, and realize the digital remote operation and maintenance service, which can markedly shorten the fault handling time and improve the fault handling efficiency. It decreases the operation and maintenance cost of our company and reduces the working intensity of employees, thereby attaining a win–win situation for both economy and personnel.	Customer’s after-sales service requirements
The company has 10 offices across the country, and market coordination requires CRM (customer relationship management) to improve business processes.	Improve external business processes	Resource mobilization
We use ERP (enterprise resource planning) to control the production process, realize the management of the whole business process from order, procurement, production, assembly, factory testing, delivery, and final customer service, and optimize these links by using ERP to create value for enterprises.	Improve the internal management process
The company has completed the transformation of intelligent manufacturing, integrating robot, big data and the Internet of Things with traditional tire equipment, deeply applying AGV, automated logistics technology and equipment in tire manufacturing enterprises, building an intelligent tire factory, and successfully developing the company’s cloud service platform by using big data and Internet of Things to provide services for tire customer equipment performance improvement and trouble-free operation.	Leads the market	Market trend
Astro Boy Robot focuses on industry benchmark customers. The goal of our product development is to develop in the direction of integration automation, miniaturization, integration, and interface to make our products more intelligent.	Industry benchmark

shows the specific concept category division process.

4.2. Spindle Coding

Axial coding is the second stage of implementing the coding program of the programmed grounded theory. Based on the 18 categories obtained by open coding, the explicit and implicit logical relationships among categories were constantly analyzed and excavated. According to the generic relationship and correlation, the categories of similar driving factors were summarized and abstracted into higher-level main categories, and six main categories were obtained: market, technical, and management capability, organizational material incentive, development incentive, and external stakeholders.

Table 9. Spindle coding.

Main Category	Corresponding Category	Connotation of Category
Market capability	The demand of users	Drive the AMT application level by meeting the needs of users’ products and after-sales service.
	Resource mobilization	Improve the external business process and internal management process to drive the AMT application level.
	Market trend	To attain the goal of leading the market and drive the AMT application level by setting an industry benchmark.
Technical capability	Technology integration	Attain the purpose of equipment compatibility and flexible production capacity to drive the AMT application level.
	Technical strategy	Enterprise performance objectives, such as reducing cost, delivery cycle, and improving output, quality, and productivity, are attained through the AMT application.
	Technological innovation	The whole process innovation, such as process, product, organization, and marketing, will drive the AMT application level.
Management capability	Human resources	Strengthen internal training, external recruitment, and teamwork to drive the AMT application level.
	Organizational structure	The purpose of reducing management levels and breaking the boundaries of functional departments drives the AMT application level.
	Organizational culture	Cultural heterogeneity, such as flexibility and control orientation, affects the AMT application level.
Material incentive	Salary incentive	Promote the AMT application level through salary structure, salary level, and salary benefits.
	Equity incentive	Drive the AMT application level through a partner system and employee incentive mechanism.
	Welfare guarantee	Driving the AMT application level through a vacation system and social insurance.
Development incentive	Employee participation	Strengthen participation incentive, authorization incentive, honor incentive, and innovation incentive to drive the AMT application level.
	Employee satisfaction	The implementation effect of AMT is driven by improving job enrichment and fairness of work.
	Employee career development	Drive the AMT application level through a promotion mechanism, post transfer mechanism.
External stakeholders	Knowledge-creation organization	The purpose of promoting the interaction between universities and research institutions drives the effect of the AMT application.
	Innovation intermediary	To drive the AMT application effect, promote the interaction among trade associations, financial institutions, and government departments.
	Production cooperation interface	Promoting the interaction between suppliers and noncompetitors in the industry drives the AMT application effect.

shows the main categories and their corresponding categories.

4.3. Selective Coding

Selective coding is the third stage of implementing the coding program of the programmed grounded theory; its main purpose is to obtain the core category that can cover all categories by summarizing and abstracting the main category, to establish the correlation between the core category, the main category, and other categories, as well as describe the phenomenon and driving factors behind it in the way of “storyline” in order to develop into a new and complete theoretical framework. Through the previous data processing methods, such as open coding and spindle coding, six main categories—market, technical and management capabilities, material incentive, development incentive, and external stakeholders—were extracted.

Table 10. Typical relationship structure of main categories.

Typical Relational Structure	Connotation of Relationship Structure
Market capability → AMT application level	Market factors, such as user demand, resource mobilization, and market trend are the direct driving factors, which directly drive the improvement of the AMT application level.
Technical capability → AMT application level	The pursuit of technology integration, technology strategy, and technological innovation are the direct driving factors, which directly drive the improvement of the AMT application level.
Management capacity → AMT application level	Human resources, organizational structure, and organizational culture are the direct driving factors, which directly drive the improvement of the AMT application level.
Material incentive → AMT application level	Strengthening equity incentives and welfare guarantees are the direct driving factors, which directly drive the improvement of the AMT application level.
Development incentive → AMT application level	Employee participation, employee satisfaction, and employee career development are indirect factors, which indirectly drive the improvement of the AMT application level.
External stakeholders → AMT application level	The external stakeholders, such as knowledge creation institutions, innovation intermediaries, and production cooperation interfaces, are the external situational conditions for organizing the AMT implementation, which affect the AMT application level.
Enterprise capability → AMT application level ↑ External stakeholders	External stakeholders play a regulatory role in the relationship between technical, market, management capabilities, and AMT application level.
Organization incentivies → AMT application level ↑ External stakeholders	External stakeholders play a regulatory role in the relationship between organizational material incentive, development incentive, and AMT application level.

shows the typical relationship structure among them.

4.4. Theoretical Saturation Test

Theoretical saturation denotes that the newly collected data cannot find new concepts and categories; that is, new theories are no longer produced. To test the theoretical saturation of the research results, we used three case data to test the saturation of the categories of the established theoretical model. No new categories and structural relations were found, and no new composition factors were obtained. We inferred that the driving factor theoretical model of the AMT application level reached theoretical saturation.

4.5. Identification Results of Driving Factors

Through the encoding process described above, the core category of “the driving factor theoretical model of the AMT application level” can be extracted. The storyline around the core category can be described as follows: based on the AMO framework, capability (A): market capability, technical capability, and management capability together constitute enterprise capability, in which market capability is the market demand in the process of AMT application and external pull; technical capability is the internal driving force of an enterprise’s operational performance and technological innovation in the process of AMT application, and management capacity is a crucial starting point of organization and management in the process of AMT application. Motivation (M): material motivation and development motivation, as two dimensions of organizational motivation, are the direct and indirect factors that affect the AMT application level. Opportunity (O): external stakeholders are the external knowledge, resources, and supply sources of the AMT application level, which directly affect the AMT application level, and also indirectly act on the AMT application level by affecting the technical, market, management capabilities, as well as organizational material incentive and development incentives. Based on this “storyline,” a theoretical model of driving factors of the AMT application level is constructed, as shown in Figure 3.

5. The Mechanism of Driving Factors

Through the coding process mentioned above, we extracted the corresponding main category and core category, and based on this, built a theoretical model of the driving factors of the AMT application level. The results show that the driving factors of AMT are primarily divided into six dimensions: technical, market, and management capabilities, organizational material incentive, development incentive, and external stakeholders. Of these, technical, market, and management capacities constitute the capability driving factors, organizational material incentive and development incentive constitute the motivation driving factors, and external stakeholders constitute the opportunity driving factors.

• Capability-driven mechanism of the AMT application level

The improvement of technical, market, and management capabilities jointly drive the AMT application level, and there is also interaction among the three. In the application process of AMT, technical, market, and management capabilities collaborate to promote the AMT application level. Technical capability is not only needed for internal research, development, and process improvement, but also, more importantly, for the market and customers. The significant role of the technology can be shown only when the technology content is properly and skillfully integrated into the utility and benefits that customers value. Second, the improvement of market capacity is attained through technical capabilities. In addition, products can be developed and produced as market-oriented products only through technological innovation and production. Of course, market and technical capabilities cannot be separated from the support of management capability, such as corporate culture concept, organizational structure, and human resource management. Advanced and flexible corporate culture, a reduction in the organizational structure level, and human resource reform can help improve AMT’s utilization efficiency and effect. Thus, enterprises should not only build and improve technical, market, and management capabilities, but also use different ways of effectively integrating technology, market, and management elements in different enterprise activities to form enterprise capabilities. Enterprise ability emphasizes flexibility as the guiding principle by meeting the market “small-batch, diversified” product development. Furthermore, product success in the market can help enterprises remain consistent with the market and maintain effective coordination and integration of technology, market, and management. While the three complementary abilities themselves constitute a rare and difficult aspect of imitation, they are also the sources of competitive enterprise advantage.

2.

Motivation-driven mechanism of the AMT application level

Managers should fully realize the advantages and disadvantages of organizational material incentives and development incentives, as well as realize the complementary effect of material incentives and development incentives. The organization relies on material incentives, such as salaries and bonuses., so we should organize and improve the salary incentive mechanism to avoid controlled consciousness due to material rewards. In contrast, the development of incentives is a crucial external factor. If the organization provides some developmental incentives, that is, it pays more attention to the growth of employees, gives them more trust and respect, and gives them considerable autonomy, the AMT application level will be higher.

3.

Opportunity-driven mechanism of the AMT application level

External stakeholders’ drivers include knowledge creation institutions, innovation intermediaries, and production cooperation interfaces, which directly or indirectly affect the AMT application level. They can obtain the knowledge and resources needed in technology application scenarios by developing external relations with knowledge creation institutions, innovation intermediaries, and production cooperatives. Conversely, these factors must interact closely with each other. They can play a better role by making them form an organic whole [65]. Especially for equipment manufacturing enterprises, motivation, ability, and opportunity should be combined to more effectively promote the improvement of the AMT application level. Furthermore, external stakeholders indirectly act on the AMT application level by affecting enterprise capabilities and organizational incentives.

6. Conclusions and Contribution

6.1. Conclusions

Based on the framework of capability–motivation–opportunity (AMO), this study abstracts the theoretical model of key influencing factors for AMT application in equipment manufacturing enterprises.

First, capability (A): Technical capability, market capability, and management capability are conducive to increasing the internal process level, external reaction speed, and internal control management level of AMT application. This corroborates Ghobakhloo [15] and Sjödin et al. [30], who reported a positive correlation between technical ability, management ability, and AMT. Accordingly, we further expanded the capacity dimension of organizational influencing factors. The expanded market capacity provides a new perspective for the research on improving the AMT application level based on the equipment manufacturing industry.

Second, motivation (M): As the two dimensions of organizational motivation, material motivation and development motivation are the external and internal driving factors that affect the AMT application. Previous studies mainly discussed its impact on the AMT application from the viewpoint of material incentives. However, they rarely used organizational recognition, training, long-term development, and other incentives beneficial to employee growth to promote the AMT application from the standpoint of organizational development incentives. The results demonstrate that organizational development incentives promote the AMT application level; this conclusion aligns with the views of the cognitive school [66] and further deepens the correlation between motivation factors and AMT application.

Third, opportunity (O): External stakeholders are crucial sources of external knowledge, resources, and information, which not only directly affect the AMT application, but also indirectly drive the AMT application level by influencing enterprise capabilities and organizational entities. This result indicates, to some extent, moderate complementarity between AMO variables applied by AMT [65].

6.2. Managerial Implications

This study has crucial practical significance and reference value for improving the AMT application level in China’s equipment manufacturing enterprises, as well as for the implementation effect of AMT in other manufacturing enterprises.

First, identifying and illuminating the influencing factors of the AMT application level, it will contribute to the successful implementation of AMT in the organization. In reality, different types of enterprises have different combinations of driving factors in different situations. Enterprises should check the driving factors one by one, based on their own needs, in order to determine the combination of driving factors conducive to the successful implementation of AMT. Furthermore, in the AMT application, equipment manufacturing enterprises, through flexible production, product differentiation, and other means, enhance their responsiveness to the market and their independent innovation ability, as well as provide customers with more humanized services. Through the development of AMT, they open up a new industrialization road with high scientific and technological content, low resource consumption, and less environmental pollution, which is the main technical support needed to improve China’s high-tech development and promote economic development.

Second, it can serve as a reference for the successful implementation of AMT in other manufacturing enterprises. For other manufacturing enterprises, first, it is necessary to for them to be guided to upgrade their technical, market, and management capabilities, and optimize organizational development motivation factors, such as employees’ value identification and career development planning, to promote the key influencing factors. In the process of AMT application, the role and influence of internal and external driving factors on AMT implementation should be fully considered. Six driving factor categories and their action mechanisms extracted in this study have high reference value for examining the influencing factors of the AMT application level.

6.3. Research Contributions

This study provides several important contributions to the existing research on the AMT application level. First, a theoretical model based on the driving factors of the AMT application level in the equipment manufacturing industry is proposed. Based on the programmatic grounded theory, through interviews and coding, this study designs a theoretical model based on the driving factors of the AMT application level in the equipment manufacturing industry. It innovates the method and perspective of the case study.

Second, this paper creatively and deeply discusses the interaction between various factors of AMO and its impact on the AMT application level to further enrich and make up for the relevant problems. In addition, this paper conducts systematic research from six dimensions: technical, market, and management capabilities, and organizational material incentive, development incentive, and external stakeholders, which construct a theoretical model of driving factors.

Third, the interaction mechanism between the six driving factors of the AMT application level for equipment manufacturing enterprises is condensed. Previous related studies emphasize the specific content of the driving factors of AMT and seldom analyzes the internal correlation and action mechanism of each driving factor. Through the programmatic grounded analysis, our findings explore each driving factor’s internal correlation and action mechanism.

6.4. Limitations and Future Research

This study uses the programmatic grounded theory to systematically analyze the driving factors of the AMT application level for equipment manufacturing enterprises. At present, in this field, combined with the highly weak practice of “localization research,” in-depth research affecting the key factors of AMT implementation can be targeted to regulate these factors in order to improve the core competitiveness and performance level so that we will face a group with higher competitive advantage. However, the research needs to be further improved and deepened due to the limitations of the sample size and research methods. In the future, the driving factors of the AMT application level and its action mechanism for equipment manufacturing enterprises may be further verified through large-sample empirical research and promote the application and innovation of research results in the application process of AMT for equipment manufacturing enterprises.