Clarifying the Notion of Digital Transformation: A Transdisciplinary Review of Literature

Abstract

We refer to the organizational transformation process of using digital technologies to radically transform organizations as digital transformation. Yet, within and in-between management, organization science, and information systems literature, there is considerable disagreement on the characteristics of an organization’s digital transformation. Hence, we conduct a transdisciplinary review of literature, spanning 175 articles, regarding digital transformation and prior achievements regarding organizational transformation. As result, we identified twelve schools of thought to discuss the phenomenon of digital transformation. We show that digital transformation is building on existing schools of thought, while highlighting new ones, such as digital innovation and ecosystem.