The centrality of a digital strategy for societal and business innovations

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the present paper is to show that a clearly delineated digital strategy and an agile mindset is key for the successful adoption of digital innovation in society and business. Design/methodology/approach: This is a case study and critical discussion. Findings: It was seen that both the business case (Netflix) and the societal case on the level of a country (El Salvador) lack a digital strategy, which initiated the innovation problems. However, Netflix proved to have an agile reactivity, which helped them to get back on track, which was not the case for El Salvador. Originality/value: This discussion is relevant because the domain of “society” and the domain of “business” are often discussed as separated worlds. However, this paper intends to show that there are some logical dynamics underlying digital transformation in the case of digital innovation that apply to both of these domains.