A Literature Review on Enterprise Digital Transformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63313/EBM.2042Keywords:
Enterprise, Digital Transformation, Digital Technology, Literature ReviewAbstract
This paper presents a systematic literature review on enterprise digital transformation, comprehensively synthesizing its conceptual connotations, driving factors, economic implications, and associated challenges. Digital transformation is defined as a systemic organizational change that leverages digital technologies to restructure business processes, innovate business models, and enhance competitive advantage, with its core lying in the synergistic co-evolution of technological enablement and organizational capabilities. The review reveals that both endogenous and exogenous factors jointly propel the transformation process. At the macro level, digital transformation facilitates industrial upgrading and regional innovation; at the micro level, it improves firm innovation performance and governance efficacy. However, it also presents challenges, including data security risks and technological integration complexities. Future research should develop multi-theoretic analytical frameworks, deepen investigations into managerial traits, industry heterogeneity, and dynamic evolutionary mechanisms, thereby offering more precise theoretical guidance and practical support.
References
[1] Ai, Y., Chi, Z., Sun, G., et al., 2023. The research on non-linear relationship between enterprise digital transformation and stock price crash risk. North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 68, 101984.
[2] Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O.A., Pavlou, P.A., et al., 2013. Digital Business Strategy: Toward a Next Generation of Insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471-482.
[3] Blichfeldt, H., Faullant, R., 2021. Performance effects of digital technology adoption and product & service innovation – A process-industry perspective. Technovation, 105, 102275.
[4] Bresnahan, T.F., Trajtenberg, M., 1995. General purpose technologies 'Engines of growth'? Journal of Econometrics, 65(1), 83-108.
[5] Del Giudice, M., Scuotto, V., Papa, A., et al., 2021. A Self-Tuning Model for Smart Manufacturing SMEs: Effects on Digital Innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(1), 68-89.
[6] Demirkan, H., Spohrer, J.C., Welser, J.J., 2016. Digital Innovation and Strategic Transformation. IT Professional, 18(6), 14-18.
[7] Dixit, M.R., Bhowmick, B., 2011. Discontinuity in the Environment, Firm Response, and Dynamic Capabilities. Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 36(2), 1.
[8] Eller, R., Alford, P., Kallmunzer, A., et al., 2020. Antecedents, consequences, and challenges of small and medium-sized enterprise digitalization. Journal of Business Research, 112, 119-127.
[9] Gaglio, C., Kraemer-Mbula, E., Lorenz, E., 2022. The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 182, 121785.
[10] Goldfarb, A., Tucker, C., 2019. Digital Economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1), 3-43.
[11] Guo, X., Li, M., Wang, Y., et al., 2023. Does digital transformation improve the firm's performance? From the perspective of digitalization paradox and managerial myopia. Journal of Business Research, 163, 113868.
[12] Hess, T., Matt, C., Benlian, A., et al., 2016. Options for Formulating a Digital Transformation Strategy. MIS Quarterly Executive, 15(2), 123-139.
[13] Horvath, D., Szabo, R.Z., 2019. Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and medium-sized companies have equal opportunities? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, 119-132.
[14] Kohtamaki, M., Parida, V., Patel, P.C., et al., 2020. The relationship between digitalization and servitization: The role of servitization in capturing the financial potential of digitalization. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 151, 119804.
[15] Li, L., Su, F., Zhang, W., et al., 2018. Digital transformation by SME entrepreneurs: A capability perspective. Information Systems Journal, 28(6), 1129-1157.
[16] Lin, R., Xie, Z., Hao, Y., et al., 2020. Improving high-tech enterprise innovation in big data environment: A combinative view of internal and external governance. International Journal of Information Management, 50, 575-585.
[17] Manita, R., Elommal, N., Baudier, P., et al., 2020. The digital transformation of external audit and its impact on corporate governance. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150, 119751.
[18] Nadkarni, S., Prügl, R., 2021. Digital transformation: a review, synthesis and opportunities for future research. Management Review Quarterly, 71(2), 233-341.
[19] Nasiri, M., Ukko, J., Saunila, M., et al., 2020. Managing the digital supply chain: The role of smart technologies. Technovation, 96-97, 102121.
[20] North, K., Aramburu, N., Jose Lorenzo, O., 2020. Promoting digitally enabled growth in SMEs: a framework proposal. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 33(1), 238-262.
[21] Sebastian, I.M., Ross, J.W., Beath, C., et al., 2017. How Big Old Companies Navigate Digital Transformation. MIS Quarterly Executive, 16(3), 197-213.
[22] Vial, G., 2019. Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 118-144.
[23] Vogelsang, K., Liere-Netheler, K., Packmohr, S., et al., 2018. Success factors for fostering a digital transformation in manufacturing companies. Journal of Enterprise Transformation, 8(1-2), 121-142.
[24] Warner, K.S.R., Waeger, M., 2019. Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal. Long Range Planning, 52(3), 326-349.
[25] Zaki, M., 2019. Digital transformation: harnessing digital technologies for the next generation of services. Journal of Services Marketing, 33(4), 429-435.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 by author(s) and Erytis Publishing Limited

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.







