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A Systematic Review of the Literature on Digital Transformation: Insights and Implications for Strategy and Organizational Change
Author(s) -
Hanelt André,
Bohnsack René,
Marz David,
Antunes Marante Cláudia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/joms.12639
Subject(s) - phenomenon , digital transformation , adaptation (eye) , perspective (graphical) , knowledge management , organizational change , transformation (genetics) , systematic review , computer science , process management , business , epistemology , political science , psychology , public relations , artificial intelligence , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , medline , neuroscience , world wide web , law , gene
In this article we provide a systematic review of the extensive yet diverse and fragmented literature on digital transformation (DT), with the goal of clarifying boundary conditions to investigate the phenomenon from the perspective of organizational change. On the basis of 279 articles, we provide a multi‐dimensional framework synthesizing what is known about DT and discern two important thematical patterns: DT is moving firms to malleable organizational designs that enable continuous adaptation, and this move is embedded in and driven by digital business ecosystems. From these two patterns, we derive four perspectives on the phenomenon of DT: technology impact, compartmentalized adaptation, systemic shift and holistic co‐evolution. Linking our findings and interpretations to existing work, we find that the nature of DT is only partially covered by conventional frameworks on organizational change. On the basis of this analysis, we derive a research agenda and provide managerial implications for strategy and organizational change.