Research on the Theoretical Basis and Analytical Framework of Digital Technology-driven Intelligent Transformation of Marine Ranches

Abstract

Marine ranches are complex systems with multiple functions including production supply, ecological restoration, quality and safety, and social services. Their operating objects are open, mobile, and highly uncertain. Traditional management methods that rely on experiential judgment and decentralized operations are difficult to adapt to the development requirements of refinement, collaboration, and sustainability. With the maturation of technologies such as the Internet of Things, intelligent perception, artificial intelligence, cloud-edge collaboration, digital twins, and blockchain, Marine ranches are shifting from single-point equipment updates to systematic reconfiguration around data, processes, organizations, and institutions. Based on the digital transformation theory, the technology-organization-environment framework, the technology implementation and assimilation theory, the absorptive capacity theory, the dynamic capacity theory, and the resource orchestration theory, this paper systematically reviews the theoretical logic of digital technology-driven intelligent transformation of Marine ranches and constructs an analytical framework of "antecedent conditions - stage processes - capability embedding - performance results". The study suggests that the intelligent transformation of Marine ranches is not a simple technology introduction, but an organizational evolution process gradually advanced by digital technology adoption, digital technology absorption and digital technology institutionalization; Technological attributes, organizational foundations and environmental pressures jointly determine the starting point of transformation, dynamic capabilities, absorptive capabilities, resource orchestration capabilities and innovation capabilities jointly determine the depth of transformation, while economic performance, ecological performance and social performance constitute the combined result of value realization. Furthermore, this paper reveals the six value realization logics of the intelligent transformation of Marine ranches, namely the logic of efficiency improvement, the logic of decision optimization, the logic of ecological governance, the logic of collaborative governance, the logic of credit enhancement and the logic of resilience improvement, and puts forward a set of research propositions for subsequent empirical testing. This paper aims to provide an interpretive and scalable comprehensive analytical framework for the study of the intelligent transformation of Marine ranches, and also to provide theoretical support for the high-quality development of Marine ranches in the context of the blue economy.