Paving the way for incumbents' digital transformation. A review and research agenda
Author(s)
Bastone, Anna
Mosca, Luigi
Tucci, Christopher L
Lan, Sai
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Digital transformation is reshaping the competitive landscape by forcing incumbent firms to rethink their strategies, organizational structures, and business models. While a substantial body of literature has explored digital transformation in specific sectors, focusing on various factors and organizational mechanisms, there remains a lack of a comprehensive and cohesive understanding of how incumbent firms actively lead or respond to these transformations. As a result, the concept remains somewhat fragmented and underdeveloped. This review addresses this gap by conducting a systematic review of 68 peer-reviewed articles across five major academic domains: entrepreneurship, general management, innovation, organization studies, and strategy. Our review identifies pathways of leading versus responding to digital transformation as well as the internal and external consequences and antecedents that enable or constrain digital transformation. We also offer a research agenda aimed at deepening our theoretical and managerial understanding of how incumbent firms navigate digital transformation, providing novel directions for future studies.
Date Issued
2025-12-09
Date Acceptance
2025-11-03
Citation
European Management Review, 2025
ISSN
1740-4754
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
European Management Review
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). European Management Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Management (EURAM). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
emre.70038
Date Publish Online
2025-12-09