Digital Maturity in the German Traditional Industries — Status Quo, Profit Impact, and Paths of Acceleration

Abstract

Digitalization is driving discontinuous changes in traditional industries such as in sectors of industrial goods, automotive, chemicals and pharma, and industrial services. However, many affected companies are slow to adapt their businesses. Digital maturity concerns the status quo of digitalization in these companies and must be pursued if the company is to remain competitive. By drawing on theory-based responses to digitalization, a maturity assessment index was derived. A quantitative survey generated 160 complete datasets from German companies operating in traditional industries. The findings suggest a medium level of digital maturity. Six archetypes of digitalized organizations and a positive impact on profits were identified. These results provide indications of five generic paths for increasing digital maturity.