Organizing for digital transformation: a multi-level examination of antecedents
In this dissertation, the reader finds three studies using multiple methods to shed light on how organizations can organize digital transformation. Chapter 1 provides the motivation and overarching framework for the dissertation. Chapter 2 sets the basis for the dissertation by taking a holistic perspective on organizational design. Specifically, this chapter develops a typology of seven dimensions, digital business transformation, organizational culture, organizational governance, digital leadership, organizational processes, organizational structure, and talent management, integrating them to understand how organizational characteristics support digital transformation. Chapter 3 takes an executive and governance perspective and examines the concept of CEO compensation stamina, defined as the degree to which executives’ pay exposes them to financial risk and long-term incentives. This chapter explores how compensation stamina influences digital innovation, considering the moderating roles of board digital expertise and industry-level digital activity. Overall, Chapter 3 illustrates how governance mechanisms interact with internal and external contingencies to shape strategic digital outcomes. Chapter 4 focuses on the team and structural interface, examining how the decentralization of decision-making authority affects digital transformation, and how internal coopetition moderates this effect. By combining structural and relational perspectives, this chapter highlights the boundary conditions under which decentralized structures foster or hinder digital initiatives. Chapter 5 discusses how the dissertation adds to the current literature and highlights the theoretical and managerial implications of this dissertation’s core findings and explores avenues for future research.