Clarifying the Notion of Digital Transformation in IS Literature: A Comparison of Organizational Change Philosophies

22 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2018 Last revised: 4 May 2018

See all articles by Tobias Riasanow

Tobias Riasanow

Technische Universität München

David Soto Setzke

Technische Universität München (TUM) - Information Systems

Patrick Hoberg

Technische Universität München

Helmut Krcmar

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Date Written: January 20, 2018

Abstract

The widespread availability of digital technologies led to a disruption of well-established business models in many industries. Digital Transformation (DT) is organizations’ strategy to prevent this disruption. However, in IS literature there exists no common understanding about what is exactly meant by DT, ranging from the transformation of whole industries to single processes of digitization. Hence, this conceptual paper aims to address this gap by comparing DT to prior organizational change philosophies. Based on the comparison, we clarify the notion of DT in IS literature by providing a definition and constructs that differentiate the content, order, and improvement goals of DT from other organizational change philosophies. Scholars and practitioners may find this conceptualization helpful to understand the different facets of DT. We hope that our suggestion for the use of consistent terminology will be embraced and will help to consolidate this research area and move it forward.

Keywords: Digital Transformation, Organizational Impact of IT, Organizational Change, Conceptualization, Digital Business Ecosystems

Suggested Citation

Riasanow, Tobias and Soto Setzke, David and Hoberg, Patrick and Krcmar, Helmut, Clarifying the Notion of Digital Transformation in IS Literature: A Comparison of Organizational Change Philosophies (January 20, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3072318 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3072318

Tobias Riasanow (Contact Author)

Technische Universität München ( email )

Boltzmannstraße 3
Garching, 85748
Germany

David Soto Setzke

Technische Universität München (TUM) - Information Systems ( email )

Boltzmannstr. 3
Garching b. Munich, 85748
Germany

Patrick Hoberg

Technische Universität München

Boltzmannstraße 3
Garching, 85748
Germany

Helmut Krcmar

Technische Universität München (TUM) ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

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