Gene

Macroeconomics

Marketing

Transformation (genetics)

Context (archaeology)

Business process

World Wide Web

Linguistics

Process (computing)

Philosophy

Biology

Contingency

Ambidexterity

Work in process

Operating system

Economics

Biochemistry

Business process modeling

Computer science

Business model

Business

Paleontology

Microfoundations

Process management

Industrial organization

Business transformation

Chemistry

Knowledge management

Digital transformation

Dynamic capabilities

Long Range Planning

In this qualitative study, we explore how incumbent firms in traditional industries build dynamic capabilities for digital transformation. Digital transformation has been defined as the use of new digital technologies, such as mobile, artificial intelligence, cloud, blockchain, and the Internet of things (IoT) technologies, to enable major business improvements to augment customer experience, streamline operations, or create new business models. In making sense of digital transformation, we discovered that leaders in various industry circles use the term inconsistently to describe various strategizing and organizing activities; in addition, the term has gained limited scholarly attention as a context for study of strategic change. Drawing on senior executives' experiences with leading digitalization projects at incumbent firms, we propose a process model comprising of nine microfoundations to reveal the generic contingency factors that trigger, enable, and hinder the building of dynamic capabilities for digital transformation. Our findings reveal that digital transformation is an ongoing process of using new digital technologies in everyday organizational life, which recognizes agility as the core mechanism for the strategic renewal of an organization's (1) business model, (2) collaborative approach, and eventually the (3) culture.

Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal