Original title: Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda
The paper describes three stages: digitizationTurning information from a physical or analog form into digital form., digitalizationUsing digital tools to change or improve how work and business processes happen., and digital transformation. It says firms need different growth strategies, assets, and capabilitiesThe skills and routines an organization can use to get things done. to make this change. It also argues that transforming digitally affects how a company is organized and how it measures performance. The authors use earlier research to set out questions for future studies.
Imagine a family trying to make dinner with a new kitchen. At first, they replace paper recipes with digital ones; then they change how they plan and cook; eventually, they reorganize who does what and what counts as a successful meal. In this paper, those steps stand for digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation, including changes to a firm's structure and measures of success.
Digital changes have shifted what consumers expect and how they behave, putting pressure on traditional firms and disrupting markets. Understanding the stages and capabilities involved can help firms plan their response—and help researchers study why some transformations succeed.
The abstract does not report empirical tests or evidence that particular strategies, assets, capabilities, structures, or metrics lead to successful transformation. It presents a literature-based account and a proposed agenda for future research, so the claims and agenda are not shown here to apply equally across firms or markets.
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Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda — Peter C. Verhoef, Thijs Broekhuizen, Yakov Bart et al. — Journal of Business Research — doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.022
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.