Digital Transformation as Collective Social Action
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Published:2023
Issue:6
Volume:24
Page:1618-1644
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ISSN:1536-9323
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Container-title:Journal of the Association for Information Systems
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language:en
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Short-container-title:JAIS
Author:
Tana Silviana, ,Breidbach Christoph F.,Burton-Jones Andrew, ,
Abstract
Digital technologies are reshaping both organizations and our lives as members of society. The
resulting changes are often referred to as “digital transformation” (DT)—a concept that has proven
difficult to define and explain theoretically. This is especially true because the nature and scope of
DT is evolving beyond clearly defined organizational boundaries. Today, information technology
(IT) is becoming increasingly accessible and relevant for many more members of society, creating
the potential for previously unseen transformations beyond organizations. Accordingly, new
theoretical lenses are needed to explain how a broader set of social actors instigate and are affected
by transformative change induced by IT. We conceptualize DT as collective social action, a novel
lens that aims to expand the focus of DT research beyond organizations as its unit of analysis, with
a complementary perspective centered on social actors, their actions, and their impact. We delineate
a typology of digital transformation as collective social action that considers the locus of
transformation (what?), types of social actor(s) (who?), and the underlying mechanisms (how?).
Collectively, the four ideal types constitute a new theory to help apprehend, explain, and predict how
DT as collective social action occurs within and outside formally defined organizational boundaries.
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Subject
Computer Science Applications,Information Systems