Digital Transformation : A Literature Review and Guidelines for Future Digital Transformation : A Literature Review and Guidelines for Future Research

Abstract

Integrating and exploiting new digital technologies is one of the biggest challenges that companies currently face. No sector or organization is immune to the effects of digital transformation. The market-changing potential of digital technologies is often wider than products, business processes, sales channels or supply chains—entire business models are being reshaped and frequently overturned. 2 As a result, digital transformation has become a high priority on leadership agendas, with nearly 90% of business leaders in the U.S. and U.K. expecting IT and digital technologies to make an increasing strategic contribution to their overall business in the coming decade. 3 The question is no longer when companies need to make digital transformation a strategic priority—this tipping point has passed—but how to embrace it and use it as a competitive advantage. Faced with the digital transformation challenge and the need to remain competitive in their industries, business leaders must formulate and execute strategies that embrace the implications of digital transformation and drive better operational performance. Unfortunately, there are many recent examples of organizations that have been unable to keep pace with the new digital reality. Prominent examples include the bankruptcy of the movie-rental company Blockbuster and the sale of the Washington Post to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon—largely resulting from those firms' 1 Mary Lacity is the accepting senior editor for this article. 2 An article that calls for a new view of disruptive technologies and presents strategic principles for addressing the challenges stemming from disruptive technologies is Downes, L. and Nunes, P. F. " Big Bang Disruption, " Harvard Business Review (91:3), 2013, pp. 44-56. 3 Bonnet, D., Ferraris, P., Westerman, G. and McAfee, A. " Talking 'bout a Revolution, " Digital Transformation Review (2:1), 2012, pp. 17-33.