Microfoundations of dynamic capabilities for digital transformation

Abstract

PurposeScholars increasingly focus on digital transformation as a key strategy for incumbent firms to gain competitive advantages. Meeting digital transformation commitments presents challenges, requiring the application and the reconfiguration of dynamic capabilities. To address this need, this research proposes a framework of dynamic capabilities and its microfoundations to assess the opportunities and challenges regarding digital transformation, involving three dimensions: Digital sensing, digital seizing, and digital reconfiguring.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a descriptive qualitative empirical approach, encompassing a sample of eight companies. Data triangulation was achieved through a combination of in-depth semi-structured interviews and secondary data.FindingsThe research provides evidence that data-driven culture fosters digital transformation and proposes the following new microfoundations: “Analytics for the customer experience journey” and “Digital analytics innovation management”, the internal barriers “Leadership without digital skills” and “Lack of strategic human resources management for digital transformation”, and the internal enablers “Defined strategy for digital transformation” and “Data-driven culture”. Finally, based on empirical results, it was possible to gather clues that link dynamic capabilities with digital maturity.Practical implicationsThe application of the proposed framework in companies enables them to develop a roadmap for the digital transition oriented towards their business and management strategies.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on dynamic capabilities for digital transformation by proposing new theoretical constructs that unearth their microfoundations, barriers, and enablers.