Digital Transformation and Innovation Management: A Synthesis of Existing Research and an Agenda for Future Studies

Abstract

Management and organizational scholars have paid increasing attention to the interconnections between digital transformation and innovation management in the last decade. However, a highly fragmented understanding of this topic is what we are left with so far. In this editorial, we suggest an approach to open up the black box of the interplay between digital transformation and innovation management by providing a framework that identifies three levels of analyisis (i.e., macro, meso, and micro) along which existing and future research on the topic can be organized. This model encourages scholars to conduct theoretical and empirical studies on how digital transformation affects ecosystems’ structure and governance, how industries and firms compete and organize for innovation in a digitalized world, how the processes for developing new products and services change under the effect of digital technologies, and the implications of digital transformation on managing people and teams involved in the innovation process, among the other topics. We also provide a synthesis of the eight papers published in the Special Issue that this editorial introduces and develop an agenda for future research that will hopefully contribute to encourage and shape future scholarly efforts into this field.

Innovation in established industries undergoing digital transformation: the role of collective identity and public values

“…More specifically, our findings highlighted coopetitive innovation efforts at the industry level in the form of collaborative experimentation. The findings are, therefore, linked to recent calls for a deeper understanding of experimentation in the digital realm as well as its role in digital transformation (Appio et al, 2021;Bianchi et al, 2020;Hampel et al, 2020;Restivo & Cardoso, 2020). Thus, we have extended the prior research by emphasising the collaborative aspect of experimentation.…”

“…For example, digital technologies provide early-stage opportunities because the costs associated with experimenting in the digital realm are lower than those associated with other settings, while companies working with digital technologies have a lower threshold for engaging in innovation (Garud & Karunakaran, 2018;Nambisan et al, 2019;Yoo et al, 2012). This can lead to experiments with business models and digital innovation (Andries et al, 2013;Appio et al, 2021;Bianchi et al, 2020;Bojovic et al, 2020;Bourreau et al, 2012;Cozzolino et al, 2018;Hampel et al, 2020;Restivo & Cardoso, 2020), including the digital substitution of key products and services (Bogers et al, 2015).…”

“…Hence, experimentation transcends a solely strategic orientation (cf. Appio et al, 2021) and represents a multilevel and continuous adaptation process of a given industry to the nature of digital work and innovation. The learning aspect may explain some of the observed inefficiencies related to experimentation (Lanzolla et al, 2021).…”

Role of Servitization, Digitalization, and Innovation Performance in Manufacturing Enterprises

“…The more businesses that adapt to ongoing digital transformation, the more they can innovate and establish sustainable competitive advantages. Appio et al [39] demonstrate the myriad ways in which digital transformation and innovation are interconnected at the micro, meso, and macro levels. The rapid advancement of digital technology continues to create new opportunities and challenges for innovators.…”

Management of Digital Transformation in Education: Modern Scientific Discourse

“…Досвід комерційних компаній показує, «що 40 % усіх витрат на технології на глобальному рівні було вкладено в цифрову трансформацію, причому є підприємства, які витратили на це понад 2 мільярди доларів у 2019 році. Більше того, 52 % компаній планують скоротити або відкласти інвестиції через COVID-19, і лише 9 % зробить це скорочення в проєктах цифрової трансформації» (Appio et al, 2021).…”