Literature review: Understanding information systems strategy in the digital age

When businesses go digital: The role of CEO attributes in technology adoption and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 has prompted a rush of technology adoption as businesses turned to digital technologies to avert closure in the face of an unprecedent pandemic. This study examines the adoption and utilization of e-commerce and remote work technologies among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during the pandemic. Building on various streams of research on technology adoption and utilization, we elaborate how CEO gender and experience can shape risk-taking attitude and crisis responsiveness, influencing technology adoption and utilization decisions. Analysis using a rich dataset of >20,000 enterprises across 42 countries revealed that female CEOs were significantly less likely to adopt remote work technologies; moreover, female CEOs leading small-sized enterprises were less likely to adopt e-commerce. However, CEO gender was not associated with the utilization intensity of remote work and e-commerce technologies. CEOs' industry experience was found to have an inverted U-shaped relationship with the adoption and utilization of both e-commerce and remote work technologies. These results reveal that top management decisions attributable to CEO experience, and to a lesser degree to CEO gender, can help explain divergent levels of digital technology adoption and utilization during the pandemic.

The role of digitalization in business and management: a systematic literature review

Digitalization is a powerful engine for economic growth in the world. In 2018, digitally transformed firms represented 13.5 billion US dollars of global GDP and, towards the end of 2023, they are expected to represent 53.3 billion US dollars, over half of the general nominal GDP (Statista, Nominal GDP driven by digitally transformed and other enterprises worldwide 2018–2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1134766/nominal-gdp-driven-by-digitally-transformed-enterprises/, 2022). The main objective of this study is to provide information (highlighting principal research topics and research agendas) from the literature on state-of-the-art digitalization within firms through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). In all, 119 review articles on the most mature functional areas of the firm are analyzed: management, marketing, and finance and accounting, published in the WOS over the period 2018-April 2022. In this study, key relevant tendencies are identified in the most mature areas of the firm, which are the impact of digital technologies on the analysis of consumer behavior; digitalization and green innovation within organizations; and blockchain technology applied to financial services. The main contributions of this work are as follows: (1) to provide the most complete and up-to-date review of digitalization from a global perspective, summarizing the current state of knowledge within an integrated framework; (2) to reduce the complexity of digitalization by offering structure and clarity; and (3) to offer links between digitalization and established points of view in the literature on management, marketing, finance, and accounting. The novelty of this paper is centered on a joint analysis of digitalization, digital transformation, and digital technologies, taking into account the most mature functional areas of the firm.

The role of enterprise information systems strategies enabled strategy-making on organizational innovativeness: a resource orchestration perspective

Purpose

The paper aims to establish the role of enterprise information systems strategies (ISS) enabled by business strategies for attaining organizational innovativeness (ORIN) mediated by performance (decision-making and business processes) under environmental turbulence.

Design/methodology/approach

The research framework is developed based on theoretical grounding and validated with the help of 408 responses from Brazil using SmartPLS path modeling.

Findings

The results of the research suggest that the resource orchestra of enterprise information systems strategy-enabled strategy-making can be a viable alternative to enhance innovation activities in the organizations through the mediated role of performance (decision-making and business process).

Practical implications

The research demonstrates the role of business function (information systems) strategy enabled overall business strategy-making for achieving innovations in the organization. Fortune organizations are exploiting the information systems strategy enabled business strategy for innovations in the organization; such as Amazon, Walmart, Costco, etc.

Originality/value

The proposed and validated model is a contribution to the enterprise information systems strategy theory. This model presents the role of resource orchestras in achieving innovations in organizations.

Wireless information technology competency and transformational leadership in supply chain management: implications for innovative capability

Purpose

The present study conceptualizes and examines the interplay of transformational leadership, ambidexterity and wireless information technology (IT) competency for enhancing innovative capability.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing primarily on the knowledge-based and dynamic capabilities view theory, the present study explored supply chains of a large global apparel company and their effect on innovative capability through a mixed methods approach.

Findings

The results show that transformational leaders strongly influence the development of ambidexterity and enhance radical innovative capability through wireless IT competency.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study suggest that supply chain integration through transformational leadership and wireless IT competency can promote simultaneous exploration and exploitation to enhance innovation.

Practical implications

The growth of cloud and/or virtual supply chains facilitated by digital wireless communications and Internet technology is advancing logistics and supply chain innovations. With increasing global competition, digitalized supply chains and ever-growing environmental uncertainty, leadership traits, especially transformational leadership and ambidextrous leaders, can be major contributing factors for successful development of wireless IT competency to support innovative capability.

Originality/value

Wireless IT competency facilitates knowledge integration particularly for combining prior internal knowledge of exploitative innovation with new external knowledge to develop explorative innovation.

Digitalization Business Strategies in Energy Sector: Solving Problems with Uncertainty under Industry 4.0 Conditions

Digital transformation is a concept based on the use of digitalization and digitization. Digitalization leads to change of business models and provides a competitive advantage also in the energy sector. The process of change towards a digital business requires a specific strategy type, aimed to solve problems with uncertainty caused by Industry 4.0 implementation. This paper aims to propose a theoretical model combining different digitalization strategies and business models. Their theoretical foundations were discussed in the literature review part and related empirical research questions were attempted to be answered by the reference method analysis. The quantitative method of analysis was based on the secondary data from Eurostat for all EU member states and backed the theoretical part in terms of ICT variables. The novelty of this research is based on Hellwig’s reference method used in management sciences and the presented managerial implications. The discussed challenges of the energy sector are related to the digital strategy implementation, relationships between digital transformation and business models, and solutions for such issues as strategy communication and new roles for managers, who should become digital leaders in the energy sector organizations. The main consequence of the proposed model in this study, for the energy sector companies’ managers, is that uncertainty in modern energy sector organizations is more related to employees and their technical skills than implemented ICT itself.