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Digital Transformation Strategy in

Multinational Companies –

A Qualitative Analysis

Master Thesis

Dennis Fürst

– S3795446 –

MSc International Business & Management

Faculty of Economics and Business

University of Groningen

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Abstract

Although digital transformation is one of the most discussed topics among leaders in the 21st century, yet academic scholars have understudied the phenomenon. The resultant business innovations have fundamentally altered consumers’ expectations and put enormous pressure on all types of companies. Firms’ competitive advantage and survival are more and more dependent on digital transformation and therefore, the successful implementation of its strategy is crucial. Although the importance of this topic is clearly given, digital transformation is still a new topic for many managers who are leading the process. Almost 70% of all transformation attempts are tending to fail which demonstrates the necessity of academic insights and guidance. As with every innovation, a lot of uncertainty goes align with the digital transformation. This research paper combines an academic literature review with a multiple-case study and tries to shed light on this nebulous topic by providing academic and practical insights. The data collection for the multiple-case study based on eight interviews with managers, from four different multinational companies, who are involved in the digital transformation process and occupy a leading role in their organization. The identified factors that are perceived to impose a significant positive influence on the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy are

communication, employee engagement and organizational agility, whereas the first two factors are

presenting novel theoretical insights and the latter supports prior academic findings. On the other hand, the analysis led further to the identification of factors, that are significantly negatively affecting the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. These factors are defined as internal

resource limitations, lack of management support and internal resistance. While the latter confirms

previous academical results, the other two factors introduce innovative aspects that have been previously overlooked by scholars. Hence, this research paper delivers a comprehensive overview of the main factors, that determine the successful implementation of a digital transformation strategy. Thus, it provides supplementary managerial guidance about how to deal with this innovative phenomenon.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ... 1 List of Figures ... 4 List of Tables ... 4 List of Abbreviations ... 4 Introduction ... 5 Literature Review ... 9

Definition of Digital Transformation ... 9

Relevance of Digital Transformation ... 10

Dimensions and Stages of Digital Transformation ... 11

Success factors for a Digital Transformation ... 13

Obstacles in the Implementation Process ... 16

Methodology ... 18 Research Design ... 18 Research Strategy ... 19 Data Collection ... 20 Research Sample ... 22 Data Analysis ... 23

Validity and Reliability ... 24

Findings ... 26 Frequency Analysis ... 26 Cross-Case Analysis ... 27 Positive Factors ... 29 Negative Factors ... 31 Discussion ... 34 Communication ... 34 Employee Engagement ... 35 Organizational Agility ... 36 Internal Resistance ... 36

Internal Resource Limitations ... 37

Lack of Management Support ... 38

Conceptual Model ... 39

Conclusion ... 40

Managerial Implication... 41

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Limitations and Future Research Opportunities ... 43

References ... 45

Appendices ... 50

Appendix A: Interview Guideline (English) ... 50

Appendix B: Interview Guideline (German) ... 51

Appendix C: Coding Framework Positive Factors ... 52

Appendix D: Coding Framework Negative Factors ... 54

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List of Figures

Figure 1 - Digital transformation framework ... 12

Figure 2 - Relation between digital transformation strategy and other corporate strategies ... 14

Figure 3 - Conceptual Model ... 39

List of Tables

Table 1 - Definitions of Digital Transformation ... 10

Table 2 - Extract from the Interview Guideline ... 21

Table 3 - Case Sample ... 23

Table 4 - Frequency Analysis Positive Factors ... 26

Table 5 - Frequency Analysis Negative Factors ... 27

Table 6 - Cross-Case Analysis ... 28

List of Abbreviations

MNE Multinational Enterprise

DT Digital Transformation

IT Information Technology

CDO Chief Digital Officer

CEO Chief Executive Officer

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Introduction

Due to innovative digital technologies, today’s business environment is encountering a sustainable change. Recently, a survey conducted by North Carolina State University’s Enterprise Risk Management Initiative and management consulting firm Protiviti Inc. indicated that Digital Readiness dominates the top risk concern of managers in 2019 (Keller, 2018). However, an earlier study conducted by McKinsey revealed that 70% of digital transformation attempts tend to fail (Bucy, Finlayson, Kelly, & Moye, 2016). Even multinational companies, such as GE or Procter & Gamble failed in their digital transformation (Westerman & Davenport, 2018) and demonstrate the urgent necessity of both, a good formulation of a digital transformation strategy and its implementation. According to the resource-based view, multinational companies usually have access to more and a wider variety of resources which, has the power to facilitate the strategy formulation by exploiting a larger pool of knowledge (e.g. Peng, 2001). Although the formulation might be facilitated, the implementation of a strategy in an international realm encounters several challenges which are obsolete in their domestic counterparts. For example, MNEs’ subsidiaries must achieve legitimacy in the host country in order to operate successfully (Kostova & Zaheer, 2018). Since a digital transformation encompasses a radical change in all levels of organizations, leaders of the transformation must be aware of the level of institutional and societal acceptance in the host country to not possibly harm their reputation and suffer from a loss in legitimacy (Hinings, Gegenhuber, & Greenwood, 2018).

Moreover, the concept of strategy had already been discussed broadly by a vast amount of scholars (Peng & Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009; Porter, 2008). Although the field of strategy formulation has been investigated a lot in the past and is well known among managers, scholars like Hrebiniak (2006) argue that only a few know about its implementation and execution. Following the argumentation of Mankins and Steele (2005), firms achieve only 63% of their strategies’ potential financial

performance and value. Grundy (1998) goes even a step further by considering the implementation process as the strategy’s graveyard. Furthermore, scholars argue that the implementation of a strategy is even a more challenging and difficult process than its formulation (Beer & Eisenstat, 2000; Hrebiniak, 2006; Meskendahl, 2010). Obstacles such as overcoming employees’ resistance to change or the lack of appropriate guidelines for the execution of the strategy can hinder its success

(Hrebiniak, 2006). Therefore, to generate the highest value out of a strategy, a suitable

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Furthermore, a well-formulated strategy and its efficient execution are also key determinants for a successful digital transformation (DT). Generally speaking, DT refers to the modifications which take place in society and industries by using new digital technologies (Majchrzak, Markus, & Wareham, 2017). Although there is a vast amount of definitions about digital transformations in the academic literature available (Schallmo, Williams, & Boardman, 2017), this research paper follows the conceptional definition by Vial (2019, P.118), which encompasses the key elements of a digital transformation and classifies it as “a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant

changes to its properties through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies”. Digital transformations turned from a business trend in the past into a

necessary adaption for companies to survive and stay competitive in the future. Therefore, a tremendous number of firms realize the urgency of a digital transformation and make it their main concern. The transformation process promotes a major organizational change since it encompasses all business fields (Downes & Nunes, 2013). As recently reported by the consultancy International

Data Corporation, the forecast for the global digital transformation spending reached $1.18 trillion in

2019, which represents an increase of 17,9% over 2018 (Shirer & Smith, 2019). Indeed, some researchers identified a positive relationship between the firm performance and the investments in information systems (Barua, Konana, Whinston, & Yin, 2012; Barua, Kriebel, & Mukhopadhyay, 1995). If the digital transformation strategy and its implementation succeeded, the potential benefits, such as an increase in sales or innovative forms of collaboration with customers, are numerous (Matt, Hess, & Benlian, 2015).

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El Sawy, Pavlou, & Venkatraman, 2013). Therefore, the prior acquired theories about a successful implementation are not applicable.

The purpose of this research paper is to provide insights about the main influences in the implementation process of a digital transformation in multinational companies. By virtue of the increasing amount of cross-border exchange of information and the international transfer of goods, especially multinational companies have to face the digital transformation challenge to increase their efficiency. Due to the novelty and extent of the concept of digital transformation, managers lack academic guidance to face the implementation challenge (Fitzgerald, Kruschwitz, Bonnet, & Welch, 2013). Furthermore, previous studies focused mainly on digital transformations within a specific business discipline whereas this research paper tries to provide a more comprehensive study about digital transformations of multinational companies. Therefore, this research paper will focus on the main factors that have to be considered while implementing a digital transformation strategy to increase the likelihood of its success. Consequently, and based on the previous discussion, the research

question of this paper is defined as it follows:

“What are the main factors that determine the successful implementation of a digital transformation

strategy for an MNE?”

This research paper deals with an intra-organizational topic that hasn’t been studied in-depth yet. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the intra-organizational forces, which push the digital transformation further and ensure a successful implementation process. By acquiring valuable knowledge about the driving forces, companies are able to strengthen those and, thus, conduct a smooth and successful transformation. Nevertheless, to provide a comprehensive study, this paper deals further with the negative influences and main obstacles during the implementation process. The relevance of studying the main obstacles in the implementation process is clearly given by the previously mentioned lack of guidance for managers, who are navigating through the transformation process. The creation of awareness for the possible arising challenges and the provision of implications for managers can significantly impact the success of the implementation process.

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Hence, due to the scarcity of previous studies about the researched theory, a deductive approach is not applicable. More precisely, an explorative multiple-case study was chosen to answer the research question and to study the phenomenon. A multiple-case study enables a wider examination of the research question (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007) and provides a clearer fundament for theory building (Yin, 2014). The multiple case-study will be based on interviews with managers from multinational companies, who are involved in the digital transformation process and occupy a leading position, to determine the main factors that impose an influence on the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. Since the acquired data only contains information from large multinational companies, the study is particularly interesting for international business studies. Additionally, to derive generalizable results, this study will focus on multinational companies of different industry types.

This research paper offers several contributions by extending the currently available literature. First, it enriches the present available academic literature in the research stream of international business strategy by exploring a new and innovative phenomenon. Second, by providing the main factors, that determine the implementation success of a digital transformation, this research paper provides valuable practical information for managers and multinational enterprises. Last, by acknowledging the limitations of this paper, other scholars receive implications and recommendations for further investigations in this particular field of research.

The next chapter presents the literature review of the relevant academic literature about the digital transformation strategy and its implementation and provides the theoretical background for the following chapters. The third chapter presents the methodology, which was applied to answer the research questions. Chapter four provides an analysis of the results of the case studies. The fifth chapter presents a discussion of the analysed data. The last chapter delivers concluding remarks, managerial implications, scientific contributions, limitations of the study and finally,

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Literature Review

This section focuses on the review of the relevant literature, starting with the definition of digital transformation, followed by its relevance. Furthermore, this chapter concentrates on the various dimensions and stages which are encompassed in a digital transformation. Last, this section is going to deal with the typical success factors and critical obstacles MNEs possibly encounter during the implementation process.

Definition of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is one of the hottest topics in the current business environment. Although it is introducing a new era of businesses, only a few researchers have recently started to scrutinize the development (Verhoef et al., 2019). Referring to Sebastian et al. (2017), the new technologies which are encompassed in the digital transformation process can be described with the acronym SMACIT, which refers to social, mobile, analytics, cloud and internet of things. However, there is no consensus about the appropriate definition of the term digital transformation in recent literature. Extracted from the study by Vial (2019), the following table (Table 1) presents a few examples of different types of definitions which can be found in the academic literature and their conceptual issues, that were additionally identified by the author:

Definition Source(s) Conceptual clarity challenge(s)

Use of digital technologies to radically improve the company’s performance

Bekkhus, (2016)

Unclear term: “digital

technologies”. Conflation between

the concept and its impacts.

Digital transformation strategy is a blueprint that supports companies in governing the transformations that arise owing to the integration of digital technologies, as well as in their operations after a transformation.

Matt et al. (2015)

Unclear term: “digital

technologies”.

Circularity (“transformation”).

Digital transformation is concerned with the changes digital technologies can bring about in a company’s business model, which result in changed products or organizational structures or in the automation of processes. These changes can be observed in the rising demand for Internet-based media, which has led to changes of entire business models (for

Hess et al. (2016)

Unclear term: “digital

technologies”.

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Moreover, Vial (2019) used a semantic decomposition between 23 unique definitions to identify parallels and the essential properties of a digital transformation definition. His resultant definition describes digital transformation as “a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant

changes to its properties through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies” (Vial, 2019, P.118) and will be used as the leading definition for this

research paper.

Relevance of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation and the consequential innovations of business models have a significant impact on every field in a company (Downes & Nunes, 2013). Business leaders have to face the transformation challenge and formulate an adequate strategy to remain competitive in their business field (Hess et al., 2016). Consequently, digital transformation has a significant impact on the competitive environment firms are operating in (Verhoef et al., 2019). Hence, traditional firms and MNEs have to obey to the transformation pressure to survive as a company. Moreover, the new information technologies have the possibility to affect the company’s cost structure by replacing expensive manpower with digital tools or by making processes more efficient (Verhoef et al., 2019). Also, digital technologies enable the recombination of existing business products and services to create new types of digital products (Yoo, Henfridsson, & Lyytinen, 2010) which can increase a firm’s competitiveness. Additionally, digital technologies promote the generation of data, which can be analysed and used by companies to perform business procedures more efficiently or react clearer to the demands of their customers and, thus, increase their competitive advantage (Günther et al., 2017).

Furthermore, new technologies have deeply changed and influenced consumers’ expectations and perceptions. More and more customers are switching their purchases to an online environment and a company’s digital appearance is affecting both, offline and online deals (Kannan & Li, 2017). Hence, scholars like Verhoef et al. (2019) argue, that firms, that are not able to adapt to the new digital norms are becoming less attractive to the customer and replaced by companies, which are able to do so. Fitzgerald et al. (2013) claim that according to their conducted survey, an improvement of customer relationships was the most successful area for companies that faced the digital transformation challenge. The innovative digital technologies are changing consumer perception and, thus, the

The use of technology to radically improve performance or reach of enterprises.

Westerman et al. (2011)

Conflation between the concept and its impacts.

Digital transformation describes the changes imposed by information technologies (IT) as a means to (partly) automatize tasks.

Legner et al. (2017)

Conflation between the concept and its impacts.

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utilization of the technologies can become the new norm and defy traditional business rules in terms of customer relationship (Hoffman & Novak, 2018). Usually, companies, that are conducting a digital transformation with an impact on the customer relationship, aim for an overall increase in the customer experience (Fitzgerald et al., 2013). In order to be successful and achieve that goal, firms have to acquire a deep understanding of their customers prior to the digital transformation (Westerman et al., 2011). Nevertheless, this in-depth understanding can be increased by the use of digital technologies (Westerman et al., 2011).

In addition, it is undeniable that new digital technologies have a disruptive impact on the overall environment the company operates in (Downes & Nunes, 2013; Mithas, Tafti, & Mitchell, 2013). In such a disruptive and turbulent environment, scholars argue that a firm’s survival is determined as a result of its ability to remain agile (Wilden et al., 2013). IT capabilities, which are defined as the ability to use and implement IT-based resources to support or enhance business strategies and work processes (Bharadwaj, 2000), facilitate operational adjustment and organizational agility (Mikalef & Pateli, 2017). Moreover, through the improvement of organizational agility, IT-enabled capabilities increase the realization of firms’ competitive performance gains (Mikalef & Pateli, 2017). Moreover, firms that are in possession of a strong IT capability can respond to changing market requirements more quickly and accelerate decision making (Prahalad & Krishnan, 2002). Therefore, the successful implementation of a digital transformation strategy enhances companies’ dynamic capabilities and agility, which are in turn required to remain competitive.

Dimensions and Stages of Digital Transformation

Fitzgerald et al. (2013) argue that digital technologies fundamentally facilitate business improvements. However, the uncertainty about the implementation of the strategy and the capabilities of the new innovative technologies results in companies, failing their digital

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Dimensions of Digital Transformation

Matt et al. (2015) argue that four dimensions in a digital transformation strategy, independent of the industry type, are recurring in almost every transformation process (see Figure 1). Those factors are similar to digital transformation frameworks from other scholars (e.g. Tabrizi, Lam, Girard, & Irvin, 2019). The first dimension is the use of technologies, which refers to the choice, which technologies companies want to use, how companies could benefit from them and what the exact expectations are (Matt et al., 2015). This dimension indicates the approach and ability of a firm to discover and utilize new digital technologies (Hess et al., 2016). Moreover, firms can establish the objective to become the market leader in a specific technology, which has the ability to increase its competitive advantages (Earley, 2014) but goes align with a higher risk and requirements in technological skills (Matt et al., 2015). Therefore, managers have to formulate a concrete use-case and step away from the intuitive transformation management which often results in failures (Berghaus & Back, 2016). The use of technologies leads to changes in value creation, which refers to the impact of a digital transformation strategy on organizational value chains and firms’ value creation. Furthermore, this dimension claims that the use of new digital technologies deviates from a firm’s classic core business and, hence, has the ability to enlarge the product portfolio of a company. Next, structural changes reflect the changes of companies’ structures, procedures and capabilities that are required to deal with and utilize new technologies. Structural modifications are necessary to provide a fundamental basis for new procedures, induced by new digital technologies. Furthermore, they refer to the adaption of the organizational culture and the acceptance of the transformation. Nevertheless, the previous mentioned dimensions are only realizable if a firm takes the financial aspect into

consideration, which reflects the core dimension of the framework. A digital transformation can only be performed, if a firm possesses the ability to finance the transformation attempt. Furthermore, it refers to the urgency to act due to a declining core business. Hence, the dimension is both, a driving force and a limiting influence for the transformation.

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All four dimensions have to be aligned in order to receive full exploitation of the aspired effects. Although this framework remains still at the conceptual stage (Nwaiwu, 2018), its elements are representing the fundament of a digital transformation. Moreover, it is not providing a managerial guideline for the transformation but rather an understanding of the critical factors.

Stages of Digital Transformation

To understand the digital transformation better, academic scholars differentiate between three stages in the transformation process: Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation (Hess et al., 2016; Parviainen et al., 2017; Verhoef et al., 2019). Moreover, researchers argue that the first two stages are requirements to reach the last and most prevalent phase of digital transformation (e.g. Parviainen et al., 2017). Digitization refers to the conversion of analogue information into a digital format to enable computers to save and transfer this information (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015). It mainly affects the internal and external documentation processes but has no influence on value creation activities (Verhoef et al., 2019). Next, digitalization illustrates how digital technologies can be applied to modify existing business processes (Li, Nucciarelli, Roden, & Graham, 2016). In

digitalization, information technologies are the key drivers that enable new business opportunities by changing existing business processes. Therefore, it is not only focussing on cost reduction but also on improvements in existing business processes and the aligning possible enhancement of customer experience. The last stage, digital transformation, goes a step further than digitalization by fundamentally altering business processes, process logic, routines and capabilities of a firm

(Fitzgerald et al., 2013). The transformation process is related to company-wide strategic changes by implementing new digital technologies into business processes (Iansiti & Lakhani, 2014). It causes major industry disruptions and affects not only the organization itself, but also its communication with customers, competitors or suppliers (Hess et al., 2016). The new innovative digital technologies, which are encompassed in the transformation process, enable cross-boundary industry disruptions and thus require new forms of business strategies (Bharadwaj et al., 2013).

Success factors for a Digital Transformation

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Figure 2 - Relation between digital transformation strategy and other corporate strategies (Matt et al., 2015)

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Matt et al. (2015) claim that another important aspect resided in constant evaluation and adaptation of the transformation. Continuous exchange, monitoring, and intervention from the digital leaders ensure that all employees, involved in the transformation, push the process forward (Westerman & Davenport, 2018). Furthermore, to guarantee an appropriate evaluation and monitoring process, firms need to define key performance indicators (KPIs). In their study, Fitzgerald et al. (2013) report that only a quarter of their surveyed companies indicated that they have established KPIs to monitor the process. The residual companies claimed that they failed to define suitable KPIs, lacked management skills or required cultural changes to make KPIs work.

Furthermore, to successfully conduct a digital transformation, requirements about the organizational capabilities demand structural changes. The academic literature in this field of research highlights the importance of cross-functional collaboration as an important element (Earley, 2014). Therefore, it is essential that organizational structure enables and ensures collaboration between different functional departments in order to fully exploit the benefits of a digital transformation. Additionally, organizations have to develop and improve internal employees’ skills to undertake digital transformation (de la Boutetière et al., 2018). Firms employees’ have to acquire the required skills to utilize the new digital technologies, induced by the digital transformation and take full advantage of them. Moreover, the entire organizational culture has to adapt to the disruptive changes which are induced by the quickly changing environment due to innovative technologies (de la Boutetière et al., 2018; Hartl & Hess, 2017). Thus, to respond to the challenge of a constant digital change, firms have to increase their organizational agility. Furthermore, they have to become digitally agile, which refers to the ability to be aware of and capture market opportunities that are provided by innovative information technologies (Lee, Sambamurthy, Lim, & Wei, 2015). Because of the nowadays unpredictable and dynamic markets, Verhoef et al. (2019) argue that organizational flexibility is a crucial requirement to increase firms’ digital agility. Additionally, digital agility endorses the recombination of digital technologies with traditional organizational resources to shift the approach of doing business. By constantly identifying and capturing market opportunities, digital agility fosters the recombination and growth of innovative products, services, and business models which in turn increase the value creation for the purchaser (Karimi & Walter, 2015; Teece, 2010).

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Obstacles in the Implementation Process

The path to a successful digital transformation is paved with difficulties, which managers have to deal with. Since overcoming obstacles significantly increases the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy, it is important to have an in-depth look at those factors, that are frequently mentioned in the academic literature. According to Parviainen et al. (2017), there are many obstacles in practice related to a digital transformation. The authors claim the lack of an effective strategy as a critical obstacle. This argumentation is supported by Matt et al. (2015), who point out that a digital transformation strategy has to be well formulated and align with other corporate strategies to be successful. Furthermore, Bharadwaj et al. (2013) emphasize researchers to scrutinize the fusion between traditional, organizational strategy and information system strategy. They argue that the separation between the two strategy concepts leads to a lower exploitation of the possible benefits than would be achieved by aligning the concepts.

Another often mentioned challenge refers to the employees’ lack of digital competencies (e.g. Verhoef et al., 2019). In the context of a digital transformation, employees often have to adapt to roles that are outside their initial function. The literature highlights circumstances, in which the digital transformation emphasizes employees, who are part of the IT department to become business-savvy participants and vice versa (Yeow, Soh, & Hansen, 2018). According to a survey conducted by Kane et al. (2015), 81% of employees from companies that are in an early stage of digitalization claimed, that their organizations don’t provide them with the right resources or opportunities to receive the required skills to benefit from the transformation. Therefore, internal investment and employees’ skill development is crucial for MNEs to take advantage of digital trends. Additionally, Watson (2017) points out the increasing relevance of digital skills for future workers to exploit the full potential of novel business processes, enabled by digital technology.

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technologies. By executing workshops, that involve employees, who are influenced by the digital transformation this issue can possibly be mitigated.

To sum up the literature review, there is no consensus about the definition of digital transformation among scholars. Moreover, there are many factors that promote the relevance of digital

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Methodology

The following section discusses the methodology of the research paper. First, the research design and the research strategy for the study will be presented. Furthermore, this section will elaborate on the procedure for the data collection. Next, the chosen method for the analysis of the data will be revealed, followed by the presentation of the research sample. Finally, the section will finish by explaining how the reliability and validity of the data are ensured.

Research Design

To conduct the research, a qualitative approach was chosen to answer the earlier mentioned research questions. Qualitative research is used to receive a more in-depth understanding of a complex phenomenon (Yin, 2014). As the research question is openly and broadly formulated, the outcome itself is unknown. In this case, applying qualitative research reveals its strengths, since it is more flexible and explorative than quantitative research (Yin, 2014). Furthermore, the qualitative approach allows the required flexibility to study the broadly formulated research question, whereas a highly structured quantitative approach, aiming at the confirmation of pre-formulated hypotheses, could not provide the results this research paper aims for (Starr, 2014). Following the argumentation of Starr (2014), one of the main conditions that promotes a qualitative research method results from an understudied researched topic for which a broad, exploratory research is required to determine the fundamental characteristics. Furthermore, due to the flexibility of the exploratory research design, it is adaptable if necessary, allows the researcher the possibility to ask questions and investigate a broader issue more detailed (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2008).

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Research Strategy

The purpose of this paper is to explore a relatively unexplored field of research and find real-world practices that support the theoretical implications, which were developed in the literature review. Furthermore, this research paper aims to extend the currently available literature. Therefore, the exploratory study approach is used, which is helpful to understand and clarify specific issues (Saunders et al., 2008). The aim of this method is not only referring to the validation of existing theory but more concerned with the extension of the available literature (Eisenhardt, 1989). Due to the understudied field of the current research, there are opportunities given to extend the existing theory.

In order to derive a valuable answer to the research questions of this paper, a case study research is applied. Referring to Saunders et al. (2008), the research strategy of a case study is defined as “a

strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context using multiple sources of evidence” (P.145). The application of a case study provides deeper insights into the character of a specific phenomenon (Eisenhardt, 1989). According to Yin (2014), a case study is the most appropriate way to investigate an explorative research. Furthermore, a case study can involve a single case or multiple cases (Yin, 2014). In contrast to the single case study, which is used to explore a unique phenomenon, a multiple-case study is used to examine general theories. Following the argumentation of Yin (2014), if a researcher has the possibility, a multiple case study should always be the preferred method since the outcome is more generalizable and reliable than in a single case study. Additionally, Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007) claim that results from a multiple case study are more convincing, which indicates higher reliability in the results and delivers more robust data for theory building. Furthermore, a multiple case study can mitigate the risk of a unique phenomenon or fortuitous conditions in the surrounding of a case, leading to a specific outcome (Yin, 2014). Hence, results which are based on a single case study are more likely to be vulnerable, compared to the outcome of a multiple case study, which provides presumably better results. Last, the application of a multiple case study allows researchers to compare cross-cases to enhance the knowledge of a preliminary unexplored field (Saunders et al., 2008).

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phenomenon of a digital transformation strategy, it is important to analyse multiple case studies to compare the most influential success factors and obstacles among them. Consequently, a multiple case study is more likely to capture all important aspects of a digital transformation and leads to a more valuable outcome.

Data Collection

The analysis and data collection depends on the methodological approach which is used to conduct a research (Saunders et al., 2008). The data source of case studies can be based on quantitative data or qualitative data such as questionnaires, interviews or observations (Eisenhardt, 1989). The primary data collection of the multiple case study will be conducted by doing in-depth interviews. More precisely, the interviews will have a semi-structured form, because it allows researchers to explore respondents’ opinions on sensitive topics and the clarification of relevant issues (Louise & Alison, 1994). Referring to Saunders et al., (2008) semi-structured interviews have an ideal fit into an exploratory research approach. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview provides the flexibility to adjust the research questions during the interview, based on the information which is provided during the data collection and, thus, the answers of the respondents have an impact on both, the direction of the data collection and the subsequently asked questions (Saunders et al., 2008). Therefore, an in-depth interview allows researchers to better understand the perspective of the managers involved in the study and provides a more comprehensive study of a specific issue. Encouraging the interviewees to provide broad and comprehensive responses, the interviews are based on open and investigative questions. Hence, the interview provided a higher degree of flexibility and latitude, compared to the choice of possible, predetermined answers, as it is done in quantitative studies (Saunders et al., 2008). The data collection based on interviews with digital transformation experts, that were conducted with the help of a beforehand created interview guideline (see Appendix A for the English version and

Appendix B for the German version). The first part of the questionnaire asks the participant to present

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Topic Number Question

Experience-Assessment 2.1.

What is the current transformation process the interviewee is working on? If there is no current transformation project, what was the latest transformation about?

Negative Factors 2.3. What are the challenges in the implementation process?

Positive Factors 2.4. What are the drivers that ensure and facilitate a

successful implementation?

Factors' Reliability Assessment

2.5. How is the success or potential failure of the digital

transformation monitored?

Table 2 - Extract from the Interview Guideline

The third part of the interview guideline consists of a variety of possible follow-up questions that allow the researcher to anticipate and adjust the interview to each conversation individually and were, if applicable, investigated throughout the interview. These questions follow the purpose to clarify possible ambiguities, depending on the responses that were given in the second part. Nevertheless, the attention was placed on the main questions since they dealt with and explored the main focus of this research. Therefore, the interview guideline provided a necessary latitude while maintaining a structured and systematic core. The last part of the guideline offers the participants the possibility to ask remaining open questions about the study. Moreover, based on publicly available information about the cases, additional information was collected prior to the interview to achieve a better knowledge about the given information, presented by the interviewees.

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Nevertheless, interviews have several limitations that have to be taken into consideration. Since the participants of the study know that they are recorded, their responses are vulnerable to be biased and, thus, possibly deviate from the real scenario. Additionally, interviews represent ”a complex social

interaction process, which can be defined and framed in highly different ways by the involved actors”

(Keller, 2018, P.300). Therefore, it is crucial to develop a certain degree of empathy with the participant. Furthermore, the involved actors of the interview need an ability to interpret and identify the actions and motives of their counterparts correctly to avoid unintended misunderstandings or accidental mistakes (Keller, 2018). To increase the degree of objectivity and to decrease the risk of research bias, the interviews were conducted without any detailed form of leadings. Therefore, the participants were able to express their views about the most important factors that determine the success of a digital transformation as complimentary as possible.

Research Sample

This research paper contributes to the strategy literature by focussing on the digital transformation of MNEs. Qualitative research focuses on small samples and in-depth investigations rather than on a variety of samples, as it is common in quantitative research (Saunders et al., 2008). Since there is no common agreed-on guideline about the sample size for multiple case studies, the data collection follows the approach from Yin (2014), who points out the importance of a sample variation rather than the sample size. Moreover, the primary data collection of this study will be based on semi-structured interviews. Therefore, eight managers of four companies from different industries were interviewed to examine the factors that determine the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. The detailed research sample is provided in Table 3 (P.23). Taking into consideration the limitations of time and the difficulties to get access to interviewees, the sample size is determined as being adequate. Furthermore, Ritchie et al. (2013) claim that in qualitative research, the sample size remains comparatively small and it is common to investigate only a few participants. Additionally, Eisenhardt (1989) indicates that a number of cases between 4 and 10 is assumed to be optimal.

The selection of the cases relied on theoretical sampling, which is defined as “sampling on the basis of

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Next, to achieve a higher degree in generalizability, the selected companies are all operating in different industries. Last, to obtain useful information and comprehensive insights, only managers, who have a leading role in the digital transformation process were interviewed.

Company Industry Type Number of Employees

Number of operating countries

Interviewee Position of Interviewee

Case 1 Fast Moving

Consumer Goods 53000 120

1 Corporate Senior Manager Digital Transformation 2 Senior Manager Digital

Transformation Case 2 Chemicals 120000 80 3 Head of Digital Transformation Management 4 Manager Digital Transformation Case 3 Luxury Fashion 15000 120 5

Senior Manager Corporate Digital Development 6 Manager Digital Strategy Case 4

Global Supermarket Chain

315000 29

7 Digital Strategy Manager 8 Senior Manager Digital

Transformation

Table 3 - Case Sample (source: author)

Data Analysis

The aim of this research paper is to identify the factors that determine the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy and, thus, extend currently available literature. The data source that is going to be analysed consists of interviews with digital transformation experts, that were conducted with the help of a beforehand created interview guideline (see Appendix A for the English version and

Appendix B for the German version). After having gathered the necessary data in the form of

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transformation strategy and are expressed by a single word or phrase. Fact rejection leads to an exclusion of irrelevant information or unimportant factors (Thomas, 2003). Last, sentence compression is the technique to shorten the sentences while still preserving the essential information. The focus while processing the interview coding was set on the factors that are presumably influencing the digital transformation. Hence, the generalization and word compression techniques are therefore applied to assemble and combine the success factors in the final coding framework (Eisenhardt, 1989). The final coding framework is presented in the Appendix C and Appendix D. After having completed the coding procedure, a frequency analysis was conducted to ascertain the most frequently mentioned factors by the digital transformation experts. Furthermore, the frequency analysis enabled the possibility to omit the least mentioned and, therefore, insignificant factors. Finally, a cross-case analysis was conducted in order to determine the comparability between the different cases (Miles et al., 2013; Yin, 2014). The cross-case analysis enables an understanding of factors, which are relevant not only for one, but for multiple cases and, therefore, allows to develop new theory. Hence, the cross-case analysis is essential to determine common factors across the cases and, thus, derive a valuable answer to the research question.

Validity and Reliability

Case studies are often criticized for several reasons. For instance, because of the possible influence the researcher imposes on the observation or due to a vague approach of data collection (Yin, 2014). Hence, it is crucial and extremely important for case studies to maintain and ensure a high-quality research. Thus, to ensure the quality of the outcome, two elements, that are reliability and validity, have to be taken into consideration.

Reliability is a quality indicator that describes the issue of whether the outcome or result of the study is replicable if other researchers would use the same methods (Saunders et al., 2008; Yin, 2014). Hence, it deals with the consistency of the outcome. Following the argumentation of Ritchie et al. (2013), reliability can be ensured if other researchers are able to reconstruct the data, its interpretation, and the research process. Therefore, it is crucial to precisely specify the methodology of the research and explain the choices that were made. To ensure the reliability of this study, the applied research strategy was described as detailed as possible. The interview guideline, which is provided in the appendices, was consistently applied for every interview that was conducted. Furthermore, the analysis of the data followed a specific coding scheme, which is provided in the Appendix C and Appendix D.

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et al., 2008; Thomas, 2003; Yin, 2014). Furthermore, the interviewer can unintendedly influence the focus of the interview in a certain path through verbal or non-verbal behaviour, which leads to an interviewer bias (Saunders et al., 2008). To avoid biases, the participants of the study were approached professionally, and the purpose of the study was clearly explained. The confidentiality of the shared knowledge was guaranteed at the beginning of the interview to decrease the participant’s concern about anonymity, which could result in a provision of incorrect answers (Saunders et al., 2008). Moreover, with the allowance of the participants, the interviews were recorded, which enables the researcher to completely concentrate on the conversation while conducting the interview and additionally, to discover potential interview influences in the aftermath. Finally, the questions, which were developed prior to the interviews, were clearly and neutral formulated to avoid the interviewer bias.

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Findings

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the results of the conducted interviews. The goal is to explore the main factors, that are determining the implementation success of a digital

transformation strategy. Therefore, in the first step, the raw data was narrowed down by coding the interviews. Next, the developed codes were analysed and grouped into summarising terms in a sensemaking way. The final coding frameworks for both, positive and negative factors, are provided in the Appendices C and D. In the next step, a frequency analysis was conducted to explore the most influential factors, followed by a cross-case analysis to compare the prior identified factors between the cases and derive comprehensive results. Last, the most frequently mentioned factors were further explored and analysed.

Frequency Analysis

While analysing and coding the interviews, several factors were identified, that were repeated frequently by most of the participants whereas, on the other hand, some factors were mentioned only by a few interviewees. To discover the most influential factors, according to the interviewees, that determine and influence the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy, a frequency analysis was conducted. Following the approach of Saunders et al. (2008), the developed codes were combined under summarising terms, followed by an analysis in which the most

frequently mentioned codes were identified. The frequency analysis for the positive factors is presented in Table 4 (P.26) whereas the frequency analysis for the negative factors is shown in

Table 5 (P.27). For both types of factors, the three most frequently mentioned aspects were

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The results for the positive factors present several aspects that were mentioned by the majority of the participants. Two out of the nine identified factors were mentioned by all of the participants, and, thus, perceived as the most important positive factors that determine the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. Those two factors are reflected in the summarising terms communication and employee engagement. The third factor, that was mentioned by seven out of eight participants is defined as organizational agility.

Interviewee Negative Factors

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Internal Resistance x x x x x x x x 8

Internal Resource Limitation x x x x x x x x 8

Lack of Management Support x x x x x x 6

Technical Barriers x x x x 4

Insufficient DT Understanding x x x x 4

Transformation approach x x x 3

Prioritization Issue x x x 3

International Differences x 1

Table 5 - Frequency Analysis Negative Factors (source: author)

Equal to the positive factors, all the participants mentioned two negative factors, that are, consequently, recognized as the most influential negative factors. The two most frequently mentioned negative factors are presented in the combining terms internal resistance and internal

resource limitation. The third negative factor, that is perceived to have a significant influence on the

implementation success of a digital transformation strategy is the lack of management support, which was mentioned by six out of eight participants.

Cross-Case Analysis

The cross-case analysis is an approach to facilitate the comparison of similarities between different cases (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2015). The fundament for this analysis is based on the most frequently mentioned and influential factors, that were identified in the prior section. Consequently, the cross-case analysis, which is presented in Table 6 (P.28), compares the factors communication,

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Factor Interviewee (+) Communication (+) Employee Engagement (+) Organizational Agility (-) Internal Resistance (-) Internal Resource Limitation (-) Lack of Management Support 1 understanding Shared Digital upscaling of workforce Flexible strategy open minded and fearless team Organizational Culture Small digital transformation team Deviant management priorities

2 towards people Transparency Skilled people

„Trial & Error“ process (experimenting) Change management culture Digital transformations are costly Lack of board support

3 acquired benefits Demonstrate

Create enthusiasm among workforce Agile processes and development of flexibility Mentality towards agile working methods Lack of capabilities and digital competencies 4 Regular communication events „Bottom-Up“ idea collection Cross-functional collaboration Mentality and mindset change Budget restrictions Insufficient amount of attention on DT 5 Regular Townhall meetings to inform employees Early employee engagement Organizational change to a more agile enterprise Resilience to change Employees critical attitude Lack of skills No clear allocation of responsibilities 6 Explain change Involvement to approach complaints early „Learning by doing“ mentality Hesitation towards innovation Financial limitations Reluctance to invest

7 (People Business) Communication

Creation and allocation of responsibilities Traditional thinking prevalent Scarce resources such as hardware Lack of IT knowledge in the board 8 Information about upcoming transformation projects Increase of internal digital competencies Flexibility in projects People are resistant and sticking to old habits Insufficient amount of qualified people

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Positive Factors

Communication

The first factor that is going to be discussed is defined as communication. The factor was mentioned in all of the interviews and is therefore considered as one of the most influential factors, that is imposing a significant positive influence on the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. Specific codes such as organizational transparency and employee events are grouped in this term. The interviewees mentioned the importance of communication and transparency to create awareness among the workforce and increase the acceptance for upcoming digital transformations. Participant 6 claimed, that “it is crucial to make sure that everybody knows what's going on -

especially for their own department” 1. This argumentation is supported by interviewee 5, who

pointed out that they “conducted a lot of town hall meetings to inform the employees” 2 and that

they “have a lot of communication within the departments” 2. Next to the town hall meetings,

participant 3 stated that they also “use different channels, such as a variety of events or the intranet,

to communicate changes to the employees”3. Thus, the creation of a shared understanding of the digital transformation is essential to increase its potential success. Moreover, the participants claimed, that since a digital transformation is considered to impact the entire organization, it is crucial to inform the employees as soon and as sufficient as possible to increase the employees’ support for the transformation.

Employee Engagement

Next to communication, the factor employee engagement was also mentioned by all the interviewees and, consequently, is considered to have an equally significant impact on the

implementation success. This term combines codes such as employee training or the digital upscaling

of the workforce. Following the argumentation of participant 2, "it is […] important to involve the affected people" in the entire transformation process. Furthermore, the participants frequently

mentioned that employees are likely to be afraid to lose their job as a consequence of the digital transformation. According to the third interviewee, involving the employees in the transformation process can help to overcome this issue. Participant 7 goes a step further and claims that “without

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company"4. Furthermore, the interviewees claimed, that they provide regular training for the workforce to increase their digital competencies. The “digital upscaling of the workforce”, as it is defined by participant 1, receives high importance for all the participants.

To increase the employees’ involvement, a strategy that is often applied by several participants is a bottom-up approach, which enables employees to provide their ideas into their company’s digital strategy. Therefore, the employees are also involved in the decision-making process which, in turn, increases their enthusiasm and overall likelihood to participate in and support a digital

transformation. Finally, the employees are usually considered as being experts in their departments and, consequently, they have the ability to increase the successful implementation of a digital transformation strategy with their valuable insights.

Organizational Agility

According to the interviewees, the third aspect that has a positive significant impact on the success of the implementation of a digital transformation strategy is organizational agility. This factor was mentioned by seven out of eight participants and encompasses aspects such as project flexibility or

agile processes. As highlighted by the participants, agility increases the ability to respond faster to

the quickly changing demands of the digital environment. Furthermore, the respondents claim that the utilization of agile work methods promotes the implementation of a learning environment, that adapts rapidly to changes. In contrast to traditional practices, several interviewees mentioned, that they established a “better done than perfect” culture, which refers to the process of launching a digital innovation, even if it is not considered to be completely developed in order to improve and adapt it afterward. Interviewee 6 supports this approach by pointing out that based on his

experience, “it is sometimes better to introduce programs earlier and make changes after the

launch”5. He defended this idea by claiming that “this flexibility allows us to respond to specific

challenges which were unknown in the beginning”5. Moreover, the fifth participant claimed that his organization is “switching more and more from a silo-oriented company to a more process-oriented

company”6 to increase organizational agility. Since digital transformations impose a disruptive and unknown challenge on the organizations, the participants claimed that organizational agility,

including the creation of flexible structures and the implementation of innovative learning methods,

4 Original: „Ohne ein aktives Engagement der Leute ist es unmöglich eine Transformation im Unternehmen durchzuführen“.

5 Original: „Ich habe die Erfahrung gemacht, dass es manchmal besser ist ein Programm frühzeitig einzuführen und Veränderungen bzw. Anpassungen noch nach dem Launch zu machen. Die dadurch gewonnene Flexibilität erlaubt uns auf bestimmte Probleme, die womöglich zu Beginn des Projektes noch völlig unbekannt waren, besser zu reagieren“.

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Silo-can increase the likelihood of a successful implementation. Furthermore, the interviewees claimed that the use of agile methods has a positive influence on the implementation success.

Negative Factors

Internal Resistance

Internal resistance was mentioned by all the interviewees and several participants claimed that it is

the most compelling challenge and hurdle to overcome in order to successfully implement a digital transformation strategy. The term combines various aspects such as organizational culture or employees’ resilience to change. Several reasons can cause internal resistance in the context of a digital transformation. Since the topic is unknown and new to the majority of the workforce, the employees do not know how to assess its consequences adequately. For example, participant 6 confirms this argumentation and claims that due to the fear of losing their job as a consequence, the “employees don’t support the digital transformation”7. Furthermore, interviewee 8 states, that the

resilience to change is “deeply rooted in people’s mindset”8 and, thus, the internal resistance is a

critical and difficult issue to overcome. Participant 7 specifies this concern by pointing out that the employees are usually hesitant to participate in a digital transformation because they don’t realize the urgency and necessity for the change. He further explains that the employees prefer their traditional working methods and processes as they had been working properly in the past. The internal resistance towards innovative working practices further impedes the utilization of agile working methods, which are perceived as a critical success factor for the digital transformation’s implementation. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the participants insist on the importance of employees’ participation in a digital transformation in order to be successful. Therefore, it is crucial to induce a cultural shift in companies to overcome internal resistance.

Internal Resource Limitations

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or limitations related to the internal human capital, like the lack of skills or insufficient digital

competencies. Participant 2 describes financial limitations as a recurring issue since “budget limitations is something we encounter in almost every transformation project”. Interviewee 4

characterizes the financial limitations as more critical by claiming that “sometimes, projects can't be

realized because of financial restrictions”9. But not only the monetary aspect imposes an essential challenge on the digital transformation process but also non-monetary factors, such as the lack of qualified people and insufficient digital capabilities in the workforce. According to participant 1, the small size of the digital transformation department in his organization limits its ability to realize specific digital projects. Interviewee 3 further insists on the urgency to increase their internal non-monetary resources because they “clearly lack qualified IT employees”10 which consequently limits their digital transformation capabilities. The participants recurrently mention the difficulty to hire qualified people. As the job-market is claimed to be highly competitive in the digital environment, competent employees are scarce. The respondents further indicate the challenge to maintain highly qualified IT employees in their company. As pointed out by participant 2, “competent IT employees

receive constantly job offers from other companies” and, thus, have high expectations in the

conditions of their workplace. Following the argumentation of the participants, the limited number of qualified employees and the possible financial restrictions create a critical challenge for the implementation of a digital transformation strategy and impose a significant influence on its success.

Lack of Management Support

The lack of management support is the last factor that is considered to impose a significant influence on the success of the implementation of a digital transformation strategy, with six out of eight participants claiming its relevance. The factor compromises various aspects such as the missing

allocation of responsibilities and the lack of management attention. Interviewee 4 specifies the

importance of managerial attention and claims that several years ago when digital projects were not relevant for her company’s management “not many things were happening in the field of digital

transformation"11. Furthermore, participant 5 supports managerial relevance and describes the situation of the chief digital officer’s exit in his company with an aligning “short-term loss of vision for

digital projects”12. Moreover, several participants stressed the continuous justification for digital

9 Original: „Manchmal können wir aber auch aufgrund von finanziellen Einschränkungen Projekte nicht realisieren“.

10 Original: „Wir versuchen interne Ressourcen aufzubauen da wir definitiv zu wenig qualifizierte IT-Mitarbeiter haben“.

11 Original: „Vor ein paar Jahren, also vor 6-7 Jahren, war die Relevanz und die Unterstützung des Managements noch nicht so gegeben. Daher ist auch nicht viel passiert im DT Bereich“.

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transformations towards the management as a draining factor. For example, participant 2 desires a wider scope to act individually and, consequently, a higher level “of management support in that

area”. Therefore, the participants perceive the lack of management support as a significant hurdle in

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Discussion

In the following section, the discussion of the results is presented. The findings are compared to prior results, based on the academic literature. Moreover, this section presents the newly identified factors and discusses how, and to what extent they are providing contributions to the currently available literature. Finally, the discussed factors lead to the development of several propositions and a conceptual model.

Communication

The first factor that is going to be discussed and that is perceived to impose a significant and positive influence on the successful implementation of a digital transformation strategy is communication. Transparent communication and the corresponding creation of a shared understanding for the upcoming transformational challenges is one of the fundamental principles in the traditional change management literature (e.g. Kotter, 2007; Tracey, Kanter, Stein, & Jick, 1994). This is supported by several respondents, highlighting the importance of a continuous exchange of information as an essential element for a successful change management process. Moreover, scholars have beforehand discovered the positive influence of communication on the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy (e.g. Parviainen et al., 2017; Singh et al., 2019; Verhoef et al., 2019), which is also claimed by the participants of this study. As pointed out by the first interviewee, “digital

transformation is currently an extremely hyped term” and encompasses a lot of insecurity and

unclarity about what it is specifically about. Consequently, employees might use the same term for different meanings and, thus, create misunderstandings or possibly increase the insecurities among themselves. Hence, managers and leaders of the digital transformation realized the importance of disentangling the concept of digital transformation through constant communication.

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meetings or notifications on the intranet, to reach out to as many employees as possible. Henceforth, the foregoing discussion leads to the development of the following proposition:

Proposition 1: The higher the level of communication regarding upcoming digital transformation

activities throughout the entire company, the higher the likelihood of a successful implementation of a digital transformation strategy.

Employee Engagement

Next, employee engagement was identified as a positive factor that influences the implementation success of a digital transformation strategy. The interviewees pointed out the importance of increasing the digital competencies in the workforce and the authorization for the employees to participate in digital transformation projects.In order to enable the effective engagement of the workforce in such projects, Hess et al. (2016) stressed the necessity of the digital skill development. Nevertheless, the respondents not only insisted on the relevance of sufficient digital skills but also on the involvement of the workforce in the digital transformation projects. The interviewees recurrently claimed that employees’ engagement has a significant positive influence on the successful

implementation of a digital transformation strategy. Participant 7 concludes that “without the active

engagement of the people, it is impossible to conduct any transformation in the company”4.

Furthermore, the participation of different hierarchy levels enables the accumulation of a variety of innovative ideas since employees are perceived to be specialists in their department. Additionally, the interviewees claimed that the involvement of employees in the decision-making process leads to an increase in their motivation to participate in the digital transformation and to a decrease,

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