Digital Transformation Capability as a Driver of Agropreneurial Performance in Social Commerce Context
ARBMS2 expanded manuscript — capability, platform utilisation and institutional alignment in AMTTSE
Abd Razzif Abd Razak1*, Nur Hafizah Roslan2, Siti Faizah Zainal3, Siti Nurulaini Azmi4, Nur Syairah Ani5, Nurul Illahi Zainal Abidin6, Mohd Shahir Omar7
Structured as an expanded full-length ARBMS empirical paper (~18 journal pages) responding to editorial feedback that the prior submission was too short. Original title, research objective, hypotheses, dataset, methodology and findings are retained; every major section is deepened with theory, method justification, discussion and implications. 85 scholarly references.
Abstract
The rapid expansion of social commerce has transformed entrepreneurial activity by enabling small firms to reach broader markets through integrated content, interaction and transaction functions. Yet platform access alone does not explain why some agropreneurs convert digital activity into stronger business performance. This study examines the relationships between adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation, institutional alignment capability and agropreneurial performance in the Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition (AMTTSE), a national digital entrepreneurship programme implemented by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), Malaysia.
A quantitative, cross-sectional design draws on programme evidence covering 80 companies, 160 entrepreneurs and 425 SKUs (June–December 2024). PLS-SEM is used to evaluate the conceptual model. Findings indicate that adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation and institutional alignment capability are positively related to agropreneurial performance, and that platform capability mediates the content–performance pathway. Programme records show cumulative sales of RM6,205,957.06 and a reported ROI of approximately 1:31. The study contributes to RBV, Dynamic Capabilities and Institutional Theory applications in digital agropreneurship and offers guidance for capability-centred social-commerce programmes.
Keywords: Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition; digital transformation capability; agropreneurial performance; social commerce; resource-based view; dynamic capabilities theory; institutional theory
1. Introduction
Expanded framing: digital economy, Industry 4.0 / Society 5.0, social commerce, Malaysian agropreneurship and AMTTSE.
Digital transformation has moved from a technology-adoption concern to a strategic question about how organisations reconfigure resources, routines and market relationships under platform-mediated competition. Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 discourses, together with national blueprints such as Malaysia’s Digital Economy Blueprint and National Agrofood Policy, have intensified expectations that micro and small agro-enterprises will compete through digital channels rather than through conventional intermediary-heavy chains alone.
Social commerce — especially TikTok Shop — compresses discovery, trust formation and transaction into one environment. For agropreneurs, this creates opportunity and pressure simultaneously: opportunity because content-driven selling can bypass geographic and intermediary constraints; pressure because remaining offline increasingly means competitive exclusion. The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) introduced the Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition (AMTTSE) as a structured public–platform intervention to build practical digital marketing, livestream and content capabilities among agropreneurs.
The programme involved 80 companies and 160 entrepreneurs across two training cohorts, with performance monitoring from June to December 2024. Cumulative sales reached RM6,205,957.06 with a reported return on investment of approximately 1:31. Despite these headline outcomes, scholarly questions remain about the capability mechanisms that translate training and platform access into sustainable agropreneurial performance. This ARBMS2 manuscript expands the original submission into a full empirical research paper while preserving the original title, objective, hypotheses, dataset and directional findings — directly addressing the editorial decision that the paper was too short as a research paper.
Literature, Theory and Hypotheses
RBV · Dynamic Capabilities · Institutional Theory · Social commerce · Research gap
Digital transformation capability is treated as a strategic organisational capacity to mobilise digital resources into commercially meaningful routines. In this study it is represented through adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation and institutional alignment capability.
Resource-Based View explains performance heterogeneity through valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable resources. Content and platform routines can function as such resources when they are embedded in seller practice rather than remaining as latent access.
Dynamic Capabilities Theory explains sensing, seizing and reconfiguring under environmental change. Platform utilisation operationalises these micro-routines in a fast-moving social-commerce setting.
Institutional Theory explains how government programmes, platform rules and legitimacy expectations shape capability development. In AMTTSE, public support and platform governance jointly structure the opportunity space.
Hypotheses (retained). H1: Adaptive content capability is positively related to agropreneurial performance. H2: Platform capability utilisation is positively related to agropreneurial performance. H3: Institutional alignment capability is positively related to agropreneurial performance. H4: Platform capability mediates the relationship between adaptive content capability and agropreneurial performance. Each hypothesis is justified in the full manuscript through multi-theory argumentation and recent literature.
Research gap. Theoretical integration of RBV, DCT and Institutional Theory in public social-commerce programmes remains limited; empirical work often stops at adoption intention; Malaysian agropreneurship platform evidence is sparse; methodological reporting of capability SEM is often incomplete; and policy evaluation still over-weights enrolment relative to conversion capability.
2. Methodology
Philosophy · design · population · measurement · PLS-SEM · ethics
The study adopts a post-positivist, quantitative, non-experimental and cross-sectional design. AMTTSE provides a bounded empirical setting in which agropreneurs share a common training and monitoring architecture while displaying substantial performance heterogeneity. The analytical record covers 80 companies, 160 entrepreneurs, 425 SKUs, channel sales, orders and seller-level GMV for June–December 2024.
PLS-SEM is used to evaluate the conceptual model, with bootstrapping for inference on direct and indirect effects. Measurement logic distinguishes adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation, institutional alignment capability and agropreneurial performance. Reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity assessments are required before structural interpretation. Common-method, missing-value, screening and ethical procedures are discussed in full in the downloadable manuscript. Causal language remains cautious because the design is non-experimental.
3. Results
Original tables retained. Interpretation expanded after each table in the full paper.
Table 1: Distribution of Participating Companies by State
| No. | State | Companies (n) | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perlis | 1 | 1.3 |
| 2 | Kedah | 3 | 3.8 |
| 3 | Penang | 2 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Perak | 8 | 10.0 |
| 5 | Kuala Lumpur | 6 | 7.5 |
| 6 | Selangor | 33 | 41.3 |
| 7 | Negeri Sembilan | 5 | 6.3 |
| 8 | Melaka | 1 | 1.3 |
| 9 | Johor | 4 | 5.0 |
| 10 | Pahang | 3 | 3.8 |
| 11 | Kelantan | 8 | 10.0 |
| 12 | Terengganu | 4 | 5.0 |
| 13 | Sabah | 1 | 1.3 |
| 14 | Sarawak | 1 | 1.3 |
| Total | 80 | 100.0 |
Source: FAMA TikTok Shop Performance Report (2024). Participation is geographically concentrated, with Selangor accounting for 41.3% of firms.
Table 2: Summary of AMTTSE Performance
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of Companies | 80 |
| Number of Participants | 160 |
| Total SKUs Marketed | 425 |
| PWD-Owned Companies | 13 |
| Cumulative Sales (Jun–Dec 2024) | RM6,205,957.06 |
| Return on Investment | 1:31 |
Source: FAMA TikTok Shop Performance Report (2024).
Table 3: Sales Value by Sales Channel (main manuscript table retained)
| Sales Channel | Sales Value (RM) | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Livestream | 2,105,670.00 | 33.9 |
| Window (Profile Sales) | 1,875,034.00 | 30.1 |
| Short Video | 1,621,255.00 | 26.1 |
| Others (Shop Tab) | 603,998.06 | 9.9 |
| Total | 6,205,957.06 | 100.0 |
Source: FAMA TikTok Shop Performance Report (2024). Appendix Table A3 reports an alternative channel allocation from the source programme dataset; both are disclosed in the full paper.
Hypothesis testing (retained findings). Adaptive content capability, platform capability utilisation and institutional alignment capability significantly influence agropreneurial performance. Platform capability significantly mediates the relationship between content capability and performance. The full paper expands interpretation against international digital-transformation and livestream-commerce studies, and discusses managerial meaning beyond numerical restatement.
Table A2: Monthly Programme Performance
| Month | Total Sales (RM) | Livestream (RM) | Short Video (RM) | Products Sold | Orders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June | 497,762.95 | 194,759.55 | 180,940.23 | 21,280 | 3,271 |
| July | 507,967.92 | 174,190.65 | 193,101.29 | 22,298 | 3,381 |
| August | 728,225.46 | 259,453.12 | 300,783.08 | 34,583 | 4,645 |
| September | 692,259.02 | 263,009.12 | 263,940.70 | 25,617 | 7,159 |
| October | 814,482.14 | 323,530.03 | 317,551.16 | 32,334 | 6,164 |
| November | 1,259,317.52 | 402,162.25 | 638,313.61 | 37,804 | 10,194 |
| December | 1,705,942.05 | 582,847.27 | 871,599.37 | 45,192 | 14,571 |
Monthly totals sum to RM6,205,957.06. Trajectory is upward; December is the peak month.
Table A3: Sales by Channel (appendix source allocation)
| Channel | June–Dec Sales (RM) | Share of Total (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Livestream | 2,199,951.99 | 35.4 |
| Short Video | 2,766,229.44 | 44.6 |
| Window/Profile | 127,020.07 | 2.0 |
| Others/Shop Tab | 1,112,755.54 | 17.9 |
| Total | 6,205,957.06 | 100.0 |
Appendix source emphasises short-video dominance. Disclosed alongside main Table 3 without silent substitution.
Discussion, Contributions and Implications
The findings portray digital transformation capability as a configuration rather than a single skill. Content routines matter, but they become commercially powerful when operationalised through platform capability. Institutional alignment remains performance-relevant in a public–platform programme where legitimacy, coaching and compliance shape conversion opportunity.
Theoretical contributions extend RBV (capability bundles, not mere access), Dynamic Capabilities (platform utilisation as sensing–seizing–reconfiguring), Institutional Theory (alignment as performance-linked), and seller-side social-commerce research.
Practical implications target entrepreneurs, FAMA, SME Corp, MARDI, TikTok Shop, training providers and universities: redesign training as integrated conversion systems; coach low- and zero-output sellers early; evaluate programmes with activation and median outcomes, not only headline GMV.
Policy implications connect to the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, National Agrofood Policy and SME digitalisation: sequence support into onboarding, intensive conversion coaching and advanced growth tiers rather than uniform enrolment-only models.
Limitations include cross-sectional design, programme-based sample, single-country and single-platform scope, secondary-data boundaries and PLS association (not experimental causation). Future research should pursue longitudinal, cross-country, AI-content, livestream-analytics and platform-governance extensions.
4. Conclusion
This ARBMS2 revision transforms the short original submission into a complete empirical research paper suitable for ARBMS while preserving the original research focus, dataset and findings. Digital transformation capability — expressed through adaptive content, platform utilisation and institutional alignment — helps explain agropreneurial performance in social commerce. Platform capability provides a process mechanism linking content effort to commercial outcomes. Programme evidence confirms substantial aggregate commercial activity (RM6.2 million; ROI ~1:31) alongside meaningful seller heterogeneity documented in the appendix.
The editorial concern that the paper was too short is addressed through expanded introduction, theory, methodology, results interpretation, discussion, contributions, limitations and an enlarged reference base (85 sources), without redesigning the article’s core scientific claim.
Download Manuscript
Full expanded ARBMS template-compatible Word manuscript (~18 journal pages; ~11,200 words including tables; 10 tables; 85 references).
Also mirrored at /uploads/ARBMS/ARBMS2-AMTTSE-Full-Paper.docx. Original declined short version retained as 4) ARBMS JOURNAL.docx for audit trail.
Selected References
Full list of 85 references is in the downloadable DOCX.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2-24.
Hajli, N. (2015). Social commerce constructs and consumer’s intention to buy. International Journal of Information Management, 35(2), 183-191.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509-533.
Vial, G. (2019). Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 118-144.
Verhoef, P. C., et al. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889-901.
Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority. (2024). FAMA TikTok Shop Performance Report: Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition [Unpublished programme report].
Abd Razzif, A. R., et al. (2026). Assessing the success of Agromarketing Masterclass TikTok Shop Edition. JIBE, 11(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.24191/jibe.v11i1.11085 (Prior related publication — disclosed.)
Editorial response note. Decision on the prior submission: Decline Submission — “The paper is too short as a research paper.” This ARBMS2 version expands every major section to full empirical-paper depth without changing title, objectives, hypotheses, dataset, findings or ARBMS template compatibility.
AI-assistance disclosure. Generative AI assisted structuring, expansion and copy-editing under author direction; it was not used to fabricate data, statistical results or references. Human authors retain full responsibility for scholarly content.