A systematic review of the literature on digital transformation: insights and implications for strategy and organizational change

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.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Affordances of the Digital Medium : Users’ perceptions of digitalization

The aim of this administrative research is to identify the opportunities and obstacles associated with the exploitation of digitalization and digital services. The objective of the study is viewed from a user perspective, undertaken using a co-creation approach. The research material was collected in group discussions between participants in rural areas in Finland, as well as from the organizational environment of Finnish health care. Affordance theory, together with the concepts of the digital medium, and the co-creation of digitalization provide a theoretical framework for the research. The affordance approach provides a perspective to interpret the relationship between the user and the environment, where the aspects of the digital medium and the forming of the collective perception are also considered. By the theoretical framework, this doctoral dissertation responds to the following research question: what is the meaning of affordance theory for the utilization of the digital medium? The results of my study reflect citizens' views on digitalization and e-services. The participants’ attitude towards digitalization is described from the perspective of users, the environment, and digital applications. The model of participatory-deliberative design presented in the study enabled the multidimensional views of the topic. In conclusion, the perspective derived from affordance theory helps us to understand the factors that enable or prevent the utilization of the digital medium. However, the description also opens the cognitive process to the observer itself and to the development community. The increased self-awareness about one’s insights enables the user to be more flexible in controlling how to utilize the opportunities in the environment. Overall, increased awareness of the potential of the environment offers an opportunity to understand the views of others on the subject under consideration and to explain the underlying perception. The additional aspects of design and co-creation of the digital affordances support the successful discovery and implementation of the possibilities. The contribution of this research becomes apparent in unexpected events, as the increased digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates. The results also contribute to much more common surroundings and situations, as in the case of digitalization of welfare services.Tämän hallintotieteellisen tutkimuksen tavoitteena on digitalisaation ja digitaalisten palvelujen hyödyntämiseen liittyvien mahdollisuuksien ja estävien tekijöiden tunnistaminen. Käsiteltävän aiheen tarkastelu noudattaa käyttäjälähtöistä lähestymistapaa, joka toteutettiin yhteiskehittämisen menetelmää hyödyntämällä. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin Suomen maaseutupaikkakunnilta sekä terveydenhuollon organisaatioympäristöstä osallistujien välisistä ryhmäkeskusteluista. Affordanssiteoria yhdessä digitalisaatiotematiikan sekä yhteiskehittämisen lähestymistavan kanssa muodostavat tutkimuksen teoreettisen viitekehyksen, joka tarjoaa tarkastelunäkökulman käyttäjän ja ympäristön välisen vuorovaikutussuhteen tulkitsemiseksi. Tutkimuksen teoreettisen viitekehyksen kautta väitöskirja vastaa tutkimuskysymykseen, mikä merkitys affordanssiteorialla on digitalisaation hyödyntämiselle. Tutkimuksen tulokset ilmentävät kansalaisten näkemyksiä digitalisaatiosta ja sähköisistä palveluista. Osallistujien suhtautuminen digitalisaatiota kohtaan kuvataan käyttäjien, ympäristön ja digitaalisten sovellusten näkökulmista. Tutkimuksessa esiteltävä osallistavan deliberatiivisen suunnittelun (participatory-deliberative design) malli mahdollistaa aiheeseen sisältyvien moniulotteisten näkemysten esiin nostamisen. Johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että affordanssiteorian näkökulma auttaa ymmärtämään niitä tekijöitä, jotka mahdollistavat tai estävät digitalisaatioon liittyvät oivallukset. Affordanssien, eli ns. tarjoumien muodostumista kuvaava kognitiivinen prosessi tarjoaa lisääntyneen oivaltamisen mahdollisuuden sekä havainnoijalle itselleen, mutta myös kehittämisyhteisön hyödynnettäväksi. Kaiken kaikkiaan lisääntynyt tietoisuus ympäristön mahdollisuuksista tarjoaa mahdollisuuden ymmärtää muiden näkökulmia tarkasteltavaan aiheeseen ja selittää ajattelun taustalla vaikuttavia syitä. Tutkimuksen vaikutukset ovat hyödynnettävissä niin odottamattomissa tapahtumissa, kuten COVID-19 pandemian myötä tapahtunut ”digiloikka” osoittaa. Tutkimuksen näkökulma on myös sovellettavissa paljon yleisempiin tilanteisiin, kuten esimerkiksi hyvinvointipalvelujen digitalisoinnin tarkasteluun.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Modernization of Legacy Information Technology Systems

Large enterprises spend a large portion of their Information Technology (IT) budget on maintaining their legacy systems. Legacy systems modernization projects are a catalyst for IT architects to save cost, provide new and efficient systems that increase profitability, and create value for their organization. Grounded in sociotechnical systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies IT architects use to modernize their legacy systems. The population included IT architects in large enterprises involved in legacy systems modernization projects, one in healthcare, and one in the financial services industry in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas metropolitan area in the United States. The data collection included interviews with eight IT architects, reviewing 12 organizational documents and pertinent artifacts. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Prominent themes included collaboration in modernization projects, systems and process documentation, and resources upskilling and technical training. A key recommendation is for IT architects in large enterprises to ensure that team collaboration, system documentation, and resource technical training are built into all aspects of the legacy systems modernization projects. The implications for positive social change include the potential to bring together individuals with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives and skills to develop trust and build positive relationships during legacy systems modernization projects

Architectural Decision Management for Digital Transformation of Products and Services

The digitization of our society changes the way we live, work, learn, communicate, and collaborate. The Internet of Things, Enterprise Social Networks, Adaptive Case Management, Mobility systems, Analytics for Big Data, and Cloud services environments are emerging to support smart connected products and services and the digital transformation. Biological metaphors of living and adaptable ecosystems provide the logical foundation for self-optimizing and resilient run-time environments for intelligent business services and service-oriented enterprise architectures. Our aim is to support flexibility and agile transformations for both business domains and related information technology. The present research paper investigates mechanisms for decision analytics in the context of multi-perspective explorations of enterprise services and their digital enterprise architectures by extending original architecture reference models with state of art elements for agile architectural engineering for the digitization and collaborative architectural decision support. The paper’s context focuses on digital transformations of business and IT and integrates fundamental mappings between adaptable digital enterprise architectures and service-oriented information systems. We are putting a spotlight on the example domain – Internet of Things

Architectural Decision Management for Digital Transformation of Products and Services

The digitization of our society changes the way we live, work, learn, communicate, and collaborate. The Internet of Things, Enterprise Social Networks, Adaptive Case Management, Mobility systems, Analytics for Big Data, and Cloud services environments are emerging to support smart connected products and services and the digital transformation. Biological metaphors of living and adaptable ecosystems provide the logical foundation for self-optimizing and resilient run-time environments for intelligent business services and service-oriented enterprise architectures. Our aim is to support flexibility and agile transformations for both business domains and related information technology. The present research paper investigates mechanisms for decision analytics in the context of multi-perspective explorations of enterprise services and their digital enterprise architectures by extending original architecture reference models with state of art elements for agile architectural engineering for the digitization and collaborative architectural decision support. The paper’s context focuses on digital transformations of business and IT and integrates fundamental mappings between adaptable digital enterprise architectures and service-oriented information systems. We are putting a spotlight on the example domain – Internet of Things