From Digital Resources to Sales Capabilities: A Resource-Based Perspective on Social Media Inertia in B2B Manufacturing Enterprises

Abstract

Despite the continued expansion of the global electric vehicle market, China’s lithium battery anode material industry faces a persistent paradox: revenues are rising, yet profitability remains constrained as traditional competitive advantages weaken. In this context, many established B2B manufacturers have adopted digital tools but struggle to translate them into effective sales capabilities. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV), this study employs a diagnostic single-case approach to examine JHY, a representative B2B manufacturing firm, to explain why digital resources remain underutilized. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 internal stakeholders, ranging from senior executives to frontline sales staff, and were triangulated with external feedback from a client-side procurement director. The analysis indicates that the core challenge lies not in access to digital tools, but in how these tools are interpreted and enacted in everyday sales practice. The findings reveal a condition of “false digital prosperity,” in which social media accounts are formally activated but used cautiously and superficially. Three interrelated structural frictions account for this outcome: cognitive misalignment between industrial norms and the social logic of digital platforms, content deficits arising from organizational silos that limit customer-oriented communication, and an institutional void caused by misaligned incentives and evaluation systems. External validation confirms that fragmented digital engagement is often perceived by customers as intrusive rather than value-adding. Overall, the study highlights that digital transformation in traditional B2B manufacturing depends less on tool adoption and more on resolving organizational frictions that inhibit capability development.