Overcoming Organizational Inertia: How Manufacturing SMEs Implement Digital Transformation Strategy

The purpose of this study is to understand how manufacturing SMEs in emerging markets implement the DT strategy by managing change in their routines.  The routines and inertia lens, which is considered a key concept in change management in manufacturing organizations, is applied.  The research questions that this study seeks to answer are:

1) How do routines and inertia interact with DT strategy implementation?

2) How can a firm overcome inertia and successfully implement a DT strategy?

Both academics and practitioners can benefit from studying digital transformation. This is due to three major reasons. Fist, digital transformation (DT) is defined as organizational change triggered and shaped by the widespread adoption of digital technologies (Hanelt et al., 2020). This viewpoint allows us to conceptually comprehend the DT phenomenon and its managemen in business practice, drawing on the vast and varied body of knowledge in the literature on organizational change and innovation (Poole & Van de Ven, 2004).  Second, DT goes beyond the introduction of digital technology and changes the business model itself. It is a strategic change that alters how a business creates value and operates (Singh et al., 2020).  Thirdly, and most importantly for practitioners, DT is a difficult task to achieve.  It is a complex issue that affects most or all business units. Organizations need to address the journey of DT on multiple dimensions, including strategy, organization, and culture.  To achieve organizational agility, managers must balance the exploration and exploitation of their company's resources, which often has unintended negative consequences. (Hess et al., 2016) .