At present, Chinese SMEs in the sporting goods industry are generally faced with problems such as delayed strategic decision-making, weak digital foundation, insufficient ecological innovation capabilities, and strong internal resistance to transformation during the transformation process, which seriously restricts the sustainable development of enterprises and the improvement of their core competitiveness. To this end, this paper conducts an in-depth study on the strategic transformation path and practice of SMEs in sporting goods, aiming to provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the formulation of scientific transformation strategies. This paper adopts a method combining case analysis and logical induction, selects representative sports enterprises such as Li Ning and Anta as comparative references, and extracts the common transformation logic and personalized response strategies applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises through the analysis of their strategic evolution paths, digital transformation practices and ecological process innovation results. At the same time, a three-dimensional path model of "strategic matching-organizational synergy-technical integration" is constructed to systematically analyze the formation mechanism and response path of internal resistance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the transformation process. The research results show that after small and medium-sized sporting goods companies have achieved a dual match between "strategic decision-making and external environment" and "strategic measures and internal capabilities", their digital transformation efficiency, ecological process improvement rate and brand stability have all been significantly improved. Specific indicators are as follows: the decision cycle of company A has been reduced from 12 days to 7 days, company B has been extended from 8 days to 14 days, and company C has been extended from 7 days to 13 days.

Zhichao Gong. The Strategic Transformation Path and Practice of Small and Medium-Sized Sporting Goods Enterprises. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 4: 232-240. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2025.070429.

[1] Yang J, Zhang X, Pei Y. Digital transformation of the business models of Chinese sporting goods enterprises in the post-COVID-19 era: a knowledge-management perspective[J]. Journal of Knowledge Management, 2025, 29(3): 723-734.

[2] Wilby R L, Orr M, Depledge D, et al. The impacts of sport emissions on climate: Measurement, mitigation, and making a difference[J]. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2023, 1519(1): 20-33.

[3] Shipway R, Mosey S, Symons C. Industry insights and post pandemic practices for entrepreneurship and innovation in leisure[J]. Leisure Studies, 2023, 42(6): 956-970.

[4] Mishrif A, Khan A. Technology adoption as survival strategy for small and medium enterprises during COVID-19[J]. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2023, 12(1): 1-23.

[5] Oklander M, Yashkina O, Zlatova I, et al. Digital marketing in the survival and growth strategies of small and medium-sized businesses during the war in Ukraine[J]. Marketing i menedžment innovacij, 2024, 15(1): 15-28.

[6] Hortovanyi L, Morgan R E, Herceg I V, et al. Assessment of digital maturity: the role of resources and capabilities in digital transformation in B2B firms[J]. International Journal of Production Research, 2023, 61(23): 8043-8061.

[7] Geissdoerfer M, Santa‐Maria T, Kirchherr J, et al. Drivers and barriers for circular business model innovation[J]. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2023, 32(6): 3814-3832.

[8] Zhu J, Baker J S, Song Z, et al. Government regulatory policies for digital transformation in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises: an evolutionary game analysis[J]. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023, 10(1): 1-18.

[9] Corvello V, Verteramo S, Giglio C. Turning crises into opportunities in the service sector: how to build antifragility in small and medium service enterprises[J]. The TQM Journal, 2023, 35(5): 1211-1223.

[10] Lefebvre F, Djaballah M, Chanavat N. The deployment of professional football clubs’ eSports strategies: A dynamic capabilities approach[J]. European Sport Management Quarterly, 2023, 23(2): 315-333.

[11] Annesi N, Battaglia M, Frey M. Sustainability in sport-related studies: a non-systematic review to increase the sports contribution to the 2030 agenda[J]. Physical Culture and Sport Studies and Research, 2023, 98(1): 81-98.