Exploring the relationships between digital transformation, organizational slack and business performance: a configurational approach
Abstract
Purpose
The survival of companies today hinges on their adaptability and flexibility, with digital transformation (DT) and organizational slack (OS) playing crucial roles. Despite their recognized importance, these factors are often studied separately. This study aims to explore how OS facilitates DT and evaluate their synergies and trade-offs to improve performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from the European Manufacturing Survey, structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we investigate causal relationships and possible combinations between different dimensions of OS and DT that contribute to business performance.
Findings
We confirmed the positive effect of OS and DT on business performance, highlighting the importance of organizational over technological factors. While not definitively establishing OS as a precursor to DT, our findings underscore the need for human and operational slack to improve performance, especially in less technology-intensive contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Our findings evidence that decision-makers should integrate OS with DT initiatives to improve the firm’s competitiveness. However, it is worth noting that while OS seems essential in low-tech shopfloors, its importance is lower in high-tech environments. Furthermore, within the possible combinations, managers should promote operational slack and digitalization, as it seems fundamental to improve business performance.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the management field in three ways. First, it clarifies controversies by providing evidence of the positive roles of DT and OS as drivers of competitiveness for manufacturing firms. Second, we verify that OS is not directly linked to DT, challenging existing assumptions. Third, it investigates the combinations of OS and DT that drive business performance improvement, emphasizing their synergies and trade-offs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their valuable time and insightful comments, which have significantly contributed to improving the quality of this paper. We also wish to extend our appreciation to the participants of the Acede International Conference for their constructive feedback and discussions, which were instrumental in refining the ideas presented here. Furthermore, we are grateful to the team at ECOBAS for their collaboration and support, which have enriched our thinking and broadened the scope of this work.
This work has received financial support from the R&D project PID2022-136983NB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, EU.
Citation
Depino-Besada, N.I., Sartal, A., León-Mateos, F. and Llach, J. (2024), "Exploring the relationships between digital transformation, organizational slack and business performance: a configurational approach", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-02-2024-0084
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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