Exploring Organizational ‘ImperfAction’: Understanding Practice Changes and Tensions in the Course of Digital Transformation

Abstract

Digital transformation (DT) is accompanied by profound changes to organizations, including shifts in strategy, technology, processes and culture (Vial, 2019). This prompts a reassessment of established practices and the emergence of new or modified practices, which in turn drives DT. Current research emphasizes the role of tensions as catalysts for organizational practice changes (Orlikowski & Scott, 2021). However, we lack a nuanced understanding of these practice alterations and its driving forces within DT. Drawing on practice theory and tensions, we ask: How does Digital Transformation changes organizational practices, and what are the specific driving forces influencing these changes? Based on a qualitative interview pre-study and an in-depth case study, we introduce 'ImperfAction', signifying how performative imperfections drive practice changes during DT. We enrich the discourse on DT by shedding light on the nuanced roles that tensions and 'ImperfAction' play in reconfiguring organizational practices, thereby advancing our understanding of the multifaceted nature of DT.