literature review of business management

Exploring the Latest Trends in Management Literature: Volume 1

Table of contents, presenting the power framework of conducting literature review.

To overcome and solve the problems of all the research community, in this chapter we offer everyone to focus on the Planning, Operationalizing, Writing, Embedding, and Reflecting (POWER) framework of conducting literature review. The framework guides the scholarly community on how to create and evaluate literature review papers to overcome the merit dilemma on the contribution made by review papers. With the sole focus toward review of literature, we are pleased to present “Review of Management Literature (RoML)” and introducing the first volume. This chapter and volume answers the present tensions accruing in the existing literature as well as present strategies on bridging the gaps. The chapters included in the first volume belong to emerging research areas such as marketing, human resources, international businesses, supply chain management, artificial neural network, luxury consumption, financial technology (FINTECH), mergers and acquisition, social media platforms like Instagram, cultural diversity, services, sustainability, quality 4.0, entrepreneurial ecosystem, and dividend decisions. The first volume is going to be useful to scholars in exploring future research areas across business management disciplines.

A Revolutionary Paradigm Shift in Supply Chain Management: The Blockchain Mechanism

Blockchain, in general, diversifies supply chain management in record-keeping and maintains authenticity. In addition, traditional issues and challenges like overflow and information overload press down mysteriously whenever the blockchain steering wheel of the supply chain turns. Factually, the miracle and twists in supply chain resilience have not been incorporated under systematic review homogeneously. As a result, this study reviews the potential impact of blockchain on logistics and supply chain (LSC) efficiency. The methodology of this study provides a subjective assessment of the utility of blockchain-based LSC performance.

On the other hand, the review reveals new insights on its current acceptance and applications, with a particular emphasis on the Limit Redundancy Mechanism and Core Information-based Direct Comparison. Prospectively, the identified facts under the research paradigm and extensive literature survey will subsidize the practices of blockchain technology and possible areas of extension in supply chain resilience in luminous fashion in the future. After all, this study materializes new solid magnitudes, adaptability, and a realistic overview of blockchain-based LSC movements.

Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Artificial Neural Network Research in Business Domain: A Retrospective Overview Using Bibliometric Review

Artificial neural networks (ANNs), which represent computational models simulating the biological neural systems, have become a dominant paradigm for solving complex analytical problems. ANN applications have been employed in various disciplines such as psychology, computer science, mathematics, engineering, medicine, manufacturing, and business studies. Academic research on ANNs is witnessing considerable publication activity, and there exists a need to track the intellectual structure of the existing research for a better comprehension of the domain. The current study uses a bibliometric approach to ANN business literature extracted from the Web of Science database. The study also performs a chronological review using science mapping and examines the evolution trajectory to determine research areas relevant to future research. The authors suggest that researchers focus on ANN deep learning models as the bibliometric results predict an expeditious growth of the research topic in the upcoming years. The findings reveal that business research on ANNs is flourishing and suggest further work on domains, such as back-propagation neural networks, support vector machines, and predictive modeling. By providing a systematic and dynamic understanding of ANN business research, the current study enhances the readers' understanding of existing reviews and complements the domain knowledge.

Mapping Luxury Consumption: A Bibliometric Analysis of Evolution, Antecedents, Outcomes, and Future Directions

The purpose of this research is to conduct a literature review on the evolution, antecedents, and outcomes of luxury consumption (LC). To accomplish our goal, we used a combination of bibliometrics and systematic approaches to review 165 articles published between 1998 and 2019. The investigation revealed that the evolution of LC is mostly driven by consumer motivation and is influenced by cultural and psychological variables. Furthermore, we explored the aforementioned antecedents of LC along four major axes. Antecedents related to (1) individual characteristics, (2) brand components, (3) cultural and social values, and (4) organizational strategies. Furthermore, based on the outcomes of LC, we found two categories (individual traits and social values). The chapter concludes by proposing a broader research agenda for the future.

Journey of Financial Technology (FinTech): A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

The aim of this review is to reflect the current state of Financial Technology (FinTech) research along with its journey of development. Further, a conceptual framework showing the interaction of independent, mediating, and moderating variables with dependent variables (acceptance of FinTech products and services) along with propositions is prepared to facilitate the future researchers. This systematic literature review consists of 110 articles from 78 journals indexed in two academic databases (Scopus and/or Web of Science), extracting facts and figures about FinTech during 2016–2021. Our findings contribute to the literature by exemplifying that FinTech is a mixed set of threats and opportunities. In the present review only 18 articles belong to 2016–2017 but 54 articles are considered from 2020–2021, the increasing number of FinTech articles in high-ranking journals indicate the speedily growing popularity of FinTech. Similarly, secondary data based articles are dominating the primary data based ones. Further, regression analysis and PLS-SEM are the most popular statistical techniques among the authors of FinTech articles. To the best of knowledge of the authors, this is a unique study in which the latest FinTech research findings are skimmed.

A Bibliometric Analysis on CEOs' Role in M&A Activity of Organizations

The chapter reviews existing research on merger and acquisition (M&A) activities and chief executive officers (CEOs) in organizations. The study provides insights into the existing literature and proposes avenues for future research on M&A activities and CEOs. The present study adopts bibliometric analysis on 319 articles identified from the literature. The articles selected for analysis are extracted from the Scopus database and are selected based on the focus of the papers on M&A activities and CEOs. Existing studies on M&A activities and CEOs demonstrate that CEOs affect M&A activities, CEOs affect the performance of M&A activities, and M&A activities also influence the role of CEOs in M&A activities. We identify and list scientific mapping in trending topics, scientific production, citation analysis, prominent authors, and their affiliations. The study is relevant to academicians, practitioners, and policymakers interested in corporate finance, especially in the areas overlapping CEO attributes and M&A activities.

Instagram Marketing (2015–2021): A Review of Past Trends, Implications, and Future Research

Instagram is a social media platform that has quickly evolved from a photo-sharing application to a successful marketing tool. It holds various business opportunities, and its rapid growth helps showcase the business offerings. Its innovative use of adverts entices clients, and its visual nature complements the social media marketing strategy. Thus, looking at the dynamic nature and growth of the platform, this chapter outlines the past research trends in the literature of Instagram marketing as the primary objective. This structured review undertakes the study of 76 articles based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and analyzes the literature in different contexts. This chapter includes the hybrid review (narrative and framework-based), and findings from the literature highlight a significant influence of Instagram marketing on users. During the brief description of the literature in a different context, the numerous research gaps are outlined with future research directions based on the ADO framework. Lastly, it also presents a broader overview of the managerial and theoretical implications based on the literature of Instagram marketing.

Cultural Diversity in Tourism: A Bibliometric Analysis of 33 Years (1988–2021)

The aim of the present study is to perform bibliometric analysis on available literature on the subject of cultural diversity in the tourism sector. The Scopus database is used to retrieve the research article data and 133 articles were fetched over a period of 33 years (1988–2021). The further analysis is performed using and Biblioshiny tool package of R programming language and VOSviewer. The findings for study not only reveal the trends of publications but also produced the information on most influential authors, journals, and universities which are actively contributing to the subject of cultural diversity in tourism. Various network graphs are also generated using software to draw meaningful conclusions. The present study will not only aid future investigators in understanding the past developments on the subject of cultural diversity in tourism but also help industry professionals in formulating better strategies and tactics keeping in mind the cultural dimension of tourism. The present study is a maiden attempt to perform the bibliometric analysis on the subject of cultural diversity in tourism.

Advanced Services Accelerating Servitization: A Review Synthesis and Future Research Agenda

The article consolidates the servitization knowledge base from an industrial equipment manufacturing firm's performance perspective. This conceptual review is offering an integration of the extant literature. The authors identified various advanced services impacting a firm's overall revenue, profitability, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. This paper provides a conceptual framework for industrial manufacturers' basic and advanced services to understand their relationship with various performance parameters. This study also provides a direction for future research with individual advanced services and their value cocreation with customers.

The Role of Integrated Reporting in Advancing Sustainability: Reflections From Academic Literature and a Future Research Agenda

The diffusion of integrated reporting as a practice has stimulated an academic debate about whether integrated reporting has the potential to advance sustainability. The International Integrated Reporting Framework, which guides the preparation of integrated reports, focuses specifically on providers of financial capital and does not refer explicitly to sustainability in a significant way. But there is evidence that integrated reporting has enhanced the provision of sustainability disclosures. This chapter scrutinizes academic research on integrated reporting, focusing on sustainability published from 2010 to 2021. First, we synthesize arguments about aspects of integrated reporting that inhibit the advancement of sustainability as well as those that help advance sustainability. Then we explain a two-pronged approach for improving the sustainability orientation of any future connected reporting framework. The first one relates to building on the current strengths of integrated reporting for advancing sustainability. The second approach concerns tackling the obstacles to promoting sustainability through integrated reporting identified in the literature. This chapter also provides important insights for future research in the field.

Realization of Sociotechnical Systems Theory for Developing Quality 4.0-Based Production Service Systems: A Literature Perspective

The present study discusses the benefits and importance of sociotechnical thinking for the integration of industry 4.0 (I4.0), and their subsequent usefulness in analyzing the value-added activities and related quality issues, and their implications in the quality 4.0 (Q4.0), product-service systems (PSS) in the organization level/complex systems in the era of I4.0. I4.0 pushed the traditional manufacturing models toward product-service systems; for this transition, social and economic factors influence more, and technological advancements are going more rapidly than the social developments needed for the transition. The integration of social-technical system perspective with I4.0 technologies adoption would improve the value cocreation of PSS. The balance among the sociotechnical systems theory (STST) and I4.0 technologies are necessary for production and logistics organizations. This can be attained by sociotechnical systems thinking because it gives a comprehensive overview for integrating I4.0 and related quality issues in the production and logistics service systems.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Value Creation: A Systematic Literature Review

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have become policy strategies to stimulate entrepreneurial activities, yet the current understanding underlying value creation and the factors influencing this value-capturing mechanism remains limited. In this chapter, we systematically review literature related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we seek to provide a greater understanding of the value creation process within an ecosystem. The findings from our content analysis shed light on the multifaceted structures and drivers of the value creation process. The study contributes to studies and theory development in the field of entrepreneurial ecosystem literature and further advances potential future research.

The Dividend Decision Model: A Possible Solution for the Dividend Puzzle

This chapter provides an overview of the explanations and factors affecting dividend policy. This study employs a systematic literature review approach to review a large sample of studies related to the dividend puzzle. Although the analysis reveals mixed evidence involving the theories and determinants of dividend policy, some determinants appear in numerous studies. However, no consensus exists on an optimal dividend to resolve the dividend puzzle, and the authors propose a model to deal with the same. When examining dividend policy, researchers should consider the firm, market, behavior, and other determinants. When making significant dividend or stock decisions, managers and shareholders should also contemplate the factors, interactions, inadequacies, and consequences. Future researchers should strive to take a more comprehensive view when resolving the dividend puzzle. This study provides a current and complete picture of dividend policy's available theories and empirical determinants. Its significant contribution is identifying some of the more consistently essential determinants of dividend policy while proposing a holistic model to address the prevailing dividend dilemma.

• Sudhir Rana
• Jagroop Singh

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• Teesside University Student & Library Services
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Business Research Methods

• Literature Review
• Studying for your Project
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What is a literature review

“A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked, and what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful" (Emerald Insight).

A literature review  is not  just a summary of everything you have read on the topic.  It is a critical analysis of the existing research relevant to your topic, and you should show how the literature relates to your topic and identify any gaps in the area of research. Our Learning Hub has lots of useful guidance for carrying out a  Literature Review .

How is it different?

It's on a much larger scale from your research for previous modules.

You may need to devise new ways of searching and managing your results.

Think about:

• Using RefWorks to manage your references
• Setting up alerts to retrieve new results for your searches

How to carry out a review

• Devise a search strategy
• Search systematically
• Read critically – i.e. deconstruct the material
• Put it all back together – reconstruct

1. Devise a search strategy

Think about the sort of research that would help your project.

1. What subject areas does you topic fall into?

2. What possible sources could you use? Think broadly, for example:

• Company reports
• Industry profiles
• Market research
• Financial reports
• Newspaper articles
• Journal articles

3. What don't you want?  What are the limits? For example, geographical restrictions or time periods.

2. Search systematically

• Plan your search first, thinking about your keywords
• Use the pages on this LibGuide to identify quality resources
• Use the tutorials and advice on those pages to improve your searches
• Use the  Inter Library Loans service  to borrow books or to obtain copies of papers which aren't in the library
• Speak to the Business Librarians for help with your searches, or to recommend new items for library stock
• Look at the programme of  Succeed @ Tees workshops , and attend any which are relevant.

3. Read critically - i.e. deconstruct your results

Read critically, argument: .

• What is the main argument?
• Is the main argument clear and logical?
• What is the evidence?
• Is the evidence valid?
• Does the evidence support the conclusions?

4. Put it all back together – reconstruct

• Group your topic areas – develop themes
• Briefly summarise key findings

- See Phrasebank for suggestions of how to phrase your sentences.

• Use the academic papers as examples of the style of academic writing as well as for their content
• Check your referencing

Succeed@Tees Workshops: Writing a Literature Review

The following workshop will help you to develop your skills in writing a literature review :

Writing a literature review

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• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 11:08 AM
• URL: https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/business_research

Business Management: Literature Review

Literature review.

• Important Databases
• SA and International Theses and Dissertations
• Statistical & Company Related Information and Reports

Research Methodology

• Legal Databases
• Reference Sources
• Case Studies
• Sustainability-related Databases

Keep Up To Date With Your Research Area

• Referencing & Plagiarism
• Publisher's Catalogues
• Publish Your Research
• Research & Researcher Visibility
• Research Impact
• Open educational resources (OERs)

Important Information

Before you start with your literature review it is important to have a discussion with your supervisor and decide on:

Research Topic/ Research Question : Clearly define and articulated questions or hypotheses that your research aims to answer. Do a preliminary literature review to ensure that your research question is unanswered. Conduct an initial review of existing literature to confirm that your research question remains unanswered. This process will help concentrate your literature search on your specific topic, allowing you to identify and engage with literature that supports your research questions or hypotheses.

Research Methodology : This encompasses the overall approach, strategy, or framework that guides the entire research process. It outlines the systematic plan for conducting research, from the formulation of research questions or hypotheses to the interpretation of results. Identify the research methods used in your field during your preliminary literature review. Once identified, use the library to find relevant books to assist you with this process. 

Variables and Measurement : Identifying and defining the variables of interest and determining how they will be measured. The variables will form part of your search strategies that you will use to find relevant literature.

Publication Date Range : Literature Age (no limited / up 5 years old)

All your literature must be in support of your research question(s), research design and your variables as this ensures that you create an effective search strategy.

Sage Research Methods Online focuses on research methodology and will guide you through your research process with the Project Planner. The Methods Map will enable you to explore all the research methods available so that you can choose one suitable for your research.

The Unisa Institutional Repository stores completed theses and dissertations and you can look at subject-specific examples to see how students have conducted their research.

• Sage Research Methods Online This link opens in a new window SAGE Research Methods supports beginning and advanced researchers in every step of a research project, from writing a research question, choosing a method, gathering and analyzing data, to writing up and publishing the findings. With information on the full range of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods for the social and behavioral sciences, as well as many methods commonly used in the hard sciences, the book, reference, and journal content in SAGE Research Methods help researchers of all levels conduct their research
• Unisa Institutional Repository
• What is a Literature Review
• Narrative or Traditional Literature Review
• Theoretical Review
• Systematic Literature Review
• Rapid Review
• Scoping Review
• Integrative Review
• Meta-Synthesis
• Meta-Analysis
• Critical Review

A literature review is a critical component of research that involve a comprehensive examination and synthesis of existing literature on a particular topic. Different types of literature reviews serve varying purposes and follow distinct methodologies and researchers choose the type of literature review based on the research question, goals, and the nature of the available literature. The selected type informs the review's structure, methodology, and depth of analysis.

Description: This type provides a comprehensive overview and summary of the existing literature on a specific topic without a specific methodological approach. It is often narrative in nature, discussing key findings and themes. Purpose: To offer a broad understanding of the current state of knowledge on a topic.

Focuses on the development, refinement, or critique of theoretical frameworks in a specific field. It explores the evolution of theoretical perspectives over time. Purpose: To contribute to theoretical development and understanding.

A structured and rigorous review that follows a predefined protocol or systematic methodology for literature selection, data extraction, and analysis. It aims to minimize bias and ensure a thorough and replicable process. Purpose: To answer a specific research question with a transparent and reproducible approach.

A rapid review is a condensed form of literature review designed to accelerate the process of synthesizing knowledge compared to traditional systematic reviews. It aims to streamline the review process by simplifying or omitting certain components of systematic reviews while maintaining rigor and reliability. Rapid reviews are particularly useful for time-sensitive decision-making scenarios where timely access to synthesized evidence is essential. Unlike systematic reviews, rapid reviews target high-quality and authoritative resources to provide expedited yet credible insights and quickly reviewing and summarizing evidence to inform decision-making or policy. Purpose: To provide timely information in situations where a traditional review might take too long.

A preliminary assessment of the potential size and scope of available research literature on a specific topic. It aims to identify gaps in the literature and clarify key concepts. Purpose: To map the existing literature and inform the design of future research studies.

A review that synthesizes both quantitative and qualitative research evidence to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a research question or topic. Purpose: To offer a holistic view by incorporating diverse types of research.

An approach used in qualitative research that involves synthesizing and interpreting findings from multiple qualitative studies. It goes beyond summarization to identify common themes or patterns. Purpose: To generate new insights or theories by integrating qualitative findings.

An evaluative review that assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of existing literature. It may involve a critical appraisal of study methodologies and findings. Purpose: To assess the quality of research and identify areas for improvement.

Searching Effectively for Literature on Your Topic

• Search Techniques
• Unique Filters on Databases
• Boolean Operators

Various search techniques are available for locating literature on your research topic. Incorrect utilization of these search techniques may result in an inaccurate list of references and the potential exclusion of crucial publications. Contact your personal librarian, Melanie Malan for guidance.

The following search techniques can be used to search for literature on your research topic and can be included or excluded depending on the quality of the retrieved list of publications:

KEYWORD SEARCHING

Identify relevant keywords and phrases related to your research topic. Use these terms when searching in databases, library catalogs, or search engines. It is important to strike a balance by selecting terms that capture the core concepts of your research without being too restrictive or inclusive. Using too specific search terms may result in missing relevant literature, while overly broad terms may lead to an overwhelming number of irrelevant results.

Experiment with synonyms and variations of your keywords to see which keywords will retrieve the most relevant list of publications.

PHRASE SEARCHING

Enclose phrases in quotation marks to search for two or more exact word sequences. This can be useful when searching for specific terms or concepts. Example: Search "strategy as practice" or "service delivery" to find articles with this exact phrase.

USE BOOLEAN OPERATORS TO LIMIT OR EXPAND YOUR SEARCH  

Combine or exclude terms using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to refine search results and retrieve more precise results. Example: "climate change" AND impact will retrieve articles containing both terms.

Misusing or neglecting Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) can impact the precision and recall of your search and it is important to clearly define the relationships between your keywords using appropriate Boolean operators to ensure accurate and relevant results.

TRUNCATION AND WILDCARD SYMBOLS

 Use truncation (*) and wildcard symbols (?) to search for variations of a word. Truncation allows for multiple endings of a word, while a wildcard represents a single character. Example: Search strateg* to find results containing strategic, strategy, strategically etc.

SUBJECT HEADINGS / AUTHOR KEYWORDS / DESCRIPTORS :

Utilize controlled vocabulary or subject headings assigned to articles and books in databases that can help you find publications specifically related to your topic. Combine keyword searching and subject heading searching to ensure that you don't miss relevant publications. Take note of Author Keywords that can be found on articles. This can guide you to keywords used in your research area.

DATABASE FILTERS AND LIMITS :

Use database filters and limiters to narrow down results based on criteria such as publication date, document type, language, or source type. Explore advanced search options to access these filters.

Failing to use filters or limits within databases may lead to an overwhelming number of irrelevant results.

CITATION TRACKING :

Identify key articles on your topic, and then review their reference lists to find additional relevant sources. This technique is known as citation tracking. Overlooking citation tracking can result in missed opportunities to discover additional relevant literature.

Use citation databases like Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar to track citations easily.

Setting up alerts is a crucial and efficient practice when conducting a literature review. Here are several reasons highlighting the importance of using alerts in this context:

STAY UPDATED WITH NEW RESEARCH IN YOUR FIELD :

Literature in many fields is dynamic, with new research and publications emerging regularly. Setting up alerts ensures that you are promptly informed about the latest studies, allowing you to stay current with developments in your research field.

TIME EFFICIENCY :

Manually searching for new literature can be time-consuming. Alerts automate the process, saving you valuable time. Instead of regularly checking databases or journals for updates, alerts notify you when new content relevant to your topics of interest is available.

EARLY ACCESS TO KEY PUBLICATION :

Some research findings are highly anticipated, especially in rapidly evolving fields. By setting up alerts, you can gain early access to important publications that can influence your research.

EFFICIENT MONITORING OF CITATIONS :

Alerts can also be set up to monitor citations of key papers. This helps you track how your foundational or seminal works are being cited, providing insights into the impact and influence of your own research.

IDENTIFICATION OF EMERGING TRENDS :

By consistently receiving alerts, you can identify emerging trends, new methodologies, or shifts in theoretical frameworks within your field. This awareness is valuable for contextualizing your own research within the current academic landscape.

STRATEGIC PLANNING :

You can strategically plan your work based on the information received through alerts. Whether it's adapting your research questions or adjusting methodologies, staying informed helps in making well-informed decisions throughout the research process.

In conclusion, setting up alerts is a practical and efficient way to manage and enhance the literature review process and ensures that you are well-informed, up-to-date, and able to conduct a thorough and relevant review of the existing literature in your research field.

Keep Record Of Your Research Process

Keeping a comprehensive record of your literature review process not only contributes to the transparency and reliability of your work but also aids in maintaining an organized and efficient workflow. It facilitates collaboration, enables others to assess and build upon your research, and ensures that your literature review is a well-documented and credible contribution to your field.

• Document the keywords, phrases, and subject headings you use during your searches. Importance: Helps you replicate or modify your searches later, ensuring consistency and transparency in your methodology.
• Note the databases and academic search engines you explore. Create folders in RefWorks for the references in each database so that you can report on how many results were retrieved from each database. Importance: Allows you to keep track of where you've searched and helps others understand the scope of your literature review.
• Save the details of each search result, including title, author, publication date, source and abstract. When importing your pdf publications into RefWorks, RefWorks will populate this information if available. Importance: Aids in creating an annotated bibliography and helps you evaluate the relevance of each source to your research.
• Document the reasons for excluding certain articles or sources. Importance: Demonstrates the rigor of your selection process and provides transparency on why specific materials were omitted. You can use Rayyan https://www.rayyan.ai/ or RefWorks for this.
• Specify the criteria used to include particular articles or sources in your review. Importance: Clarifies the rationale behind including specific materials and supports the validity of your literature review.
• Write brief annotations or summaries for each source. Importance: Helps you recall the key points of each article and facilitates the synthesis of information during the writing phase.
• Save complete citations for every source you consult. Importance: Ensures accurate and consistent citation in your final work, avoiding errors and plagiarism.
• Note any unique or notable methodologies employed in the studies you review. Importance: Assists in identifying patterns, trends, or gaps in research methods within the literature.
• Track publication dates to identify trends or changes over time. Importance: Offers insights into the chronological development of your research topic and highlights areas where more recent studies may be needed.
• Document feedback received from peers, advisors, or colleagues, as well as any revisions you make to your literature review. Importance: Demonstrates the iterative nature of your work and showcases your responsiveness to feedback.
• Add personal reflections or insights about the sources you consult. Importance: Encourages critical thinking and helps you consider the broader implications of the literature on your research.

Conduct a Preliminary Literature Review

A preliminary literature review is an essential step in the research process that involves reviewing existing literature on a specific topic before diving into more in-depth research. This preliminary review helps you to gain a foundational understanding of the subject, identify gaps in the literature, and refine your research questions.

Here are the steps involved in conducting a preliminary literature review:

• Clearly articulate the research topic or question you want to investigate and identify keywords and concepts related to your research topic. These terms will be used in your literature search.
• Conduct your initial search on the library search engine and Google Scholar and use your identified keywords. This will retrieve a broad range of literature on your research topic that will capture various perspectives.
• Skim through the search results to identify key articles, books, and other sources relevant to your topic. Focus on the abstracts, titles, and keywords of each publication.
• Refine your search terms based on the initial results. Identify additional synonyms or related terms to expand and improve the search. Use Boolean operators to combine keywords and synonyms in your search strategy.
• Check the references of key articles to find additional sources related to your topic. This can help you discover seminal works and other relevant studies.

Benefits of a Preliminary Literature Review:

• Gain a foundational understanding of the existing literature on your topic, providing context for your research.
• Identify keywords used in your field of research that you can use in your search strategy.
• Discover gaps or areas where the literature is limited, helping you refine your research questions and objectives.
• Guide the design of your research methodology by learning from the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies.
• Avoid duplicating research that has already been conducted, ensuring that your work contributes to the advancement of knowledge.
• Builds a solid foundation for a comprehensive and well-informed research project by starting with a thorough understanding of the existing literature.
• Identify key researchers and journals in your field of research.

Create a Word Cloud

While reading publications found during your preliminary literature review, you will identify various keywords related to your research topic. Use a word cloud to identify the most important keywords in your field. This will inform your search strategy for your comprehensive literature review.

There are various free word cloud generators available. Here are a few of them:

• Monkeylearn Word Cloud Generator
• Word Clouds

Copy and paste the abstracts of the most important publications that you find into Wordpad.

Depending on the software you can copy and paste all the abstracts into the word cloud generator or save the txt file and upload it to the word cloud generator.

The word cloud will display the most used keywords and those are the most important keywords to use when conducting your in-depth literature review.

Your research methodology is the framework that shapes how a literature review is conducted, from the initial search to the final synthesis of findings. A well-designed and executed methodology enhances the rigor, reliability, and overall quality of the literature review, contributing to the credibility of the entire research project. The research methodology employed greatly influences the depth, breadth, and validity of the literature review.

The research questions or objectives of the study guide the literature review, and the methodology ensures alignment between the review and the broader research goals. A clear and logical connection enhances the overall coherence of the research. The research methodology influences the conclusions drawn from the literature review and, consequently, the implications for future research and practice.

Make use of Sage Research Methods and the library's search engine to find books on research methodology.

Theoretical Framework

Engaging with the Literature

• Screening And Selecting References
• Critical Reading
• Identify Themes and Gaps in the Literature

Title and Abstract

Remove irrelevant references

Evaluate Sources:

Assess the quality, credibility, and relevance of the identified sources. Look for reputable journals, publishers, and authors. Note Key Findings and Themes:

Summarize key findings and recurring themes in the literature. Note any gaps, controversies, or unanswered questions. Create Annotated Bibliography:

Develop an annotated bibliography summarizing each source's main points, methodology, and relevance to your research. This will serve as a reference for future work.

Enhances Writing and Communication:

Develop a clear and concise writing style by synthesizing information from various sources. This skill is valuable when presenting your research findings. By investing time in a preliminary literature review, researchers can maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their subsequent research activities. It ensures that the research is well-informed, relevant, and contributes meaningfully to the existing body of knowledge.

Critical reading refers to a systematic and evaluative process of engaging with literature on your research topic. It involves a purposeful examination of the content, structure, and methodology employed by the author in order to assess the reliability, validity, and relevance of the information presented. Critical reading requires you to go beyond passive comprehension and actively analyse the arguments, evidence, and assumptions within a text to identify strengths and weaknesses, evaluate the methodology and sources used, and consider the broader implications of the findings.

Find the purpose of the study, the method(s) and sample used in the study. Note the findings, themes, similarities, uniqueness and the data quality of each.

The following can be used as is, or adapted and added to the document notes area of each publication in RefWorks. These headings can be completed as you read and the notes are searchable in RefWorks.

Purpose of study:

Data collection method(s):

Similarities:

Unique contribution(s)/Findings:

Potential applications or suggestions:

Biases (source of funding and conflicts of interest):

Personal reflection or insight (Clarify how the study contributes to your understanding of the research topic.): 

Here are key takeaways and aspects to note when critically reading a paper:

• Identify the main concepts and objectives of the study and assess if the paper aligns with your research interests or needs.
• Identify the primary research question or hypothesis to help you understand the context of the study and its significance.
• Note the key studies and theories discussed in the literature review. 
• Identify the gaps and limitations of the study.
• Understand the study design (experimental, observational, survey, etc.).
• Note the sampling method and its representativeness.
• Identify the independent and dependent variables.
• Take note of the methods used for data collection and analysis.
• Evaluate how the authors interpret the results.
• Assess how the findings compare with existing literature.
• Note the study's limitations and potential sources of bias.
• Summarise the main findings.
• Consider the practical or theoretical implications of the results.
• Check the qualifications and affiliations of the authors.
• Assess the reputation of the journal or conference.
• Bias and Assumptions: Identify any potential bias or assumptions in the study.
• Consider alternative explanations for the results.
• Evaluate the overall rigor and validity of the study.
• Formulate your opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the study.
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The role of digitalization in business and management: a systematic literature review

Esther calderon-monge.

1 Department of Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Economy and Business Studies, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain

Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano

2 IUDESCOOP-Universitat de València, València, Spain

Digitalization is a powerful engine for economic growth in the world. In 2018, digitally transformed firms represented 13.5 billion US dollars of global GDP and, towards the end of 2023, they are expected to represent 53.3 billion US dollars, over half of the general nominal GDP (Statista, Nominal GDP driven by digitally transformed and other enterprises worldwide 2018–2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1134766/nominal-gdp-driven-by-digitally-transformed-enterprises/ , 2022). The main objective of this study is to provide information (highlighting principal research topics and research agendas) from the literature on state-of-the-art digitalization within firms through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). In all, 119 review articles on the most mature functional areas of the firm are analyzed: management, marketing, and finance and accounting, published in the WOS over the period 2018-April 2022. In this study, key relevant tendencies are identified in the most mature areas of the firm, which are the impact of digital technologies on the analysis of consumer behavior; digitalization and green innovation within organizations; and blockchain technology applied to financial services. The main contributions of this work are as follows: (1) to provide the most complete and up-to-date review of digitalization from a global perspective, summarizing the current state of knowledge within an integrated framework; (2) to reduce the complexity of digitalization by offering structure and clarity; and (3) to offer links between digitalization and established points of view in the literature on management, marketing, finance, and accounting. The novelty of this paper is centered on a joint analysis of digitalization, digital transformation, and digital technologies, taking into account the most mature functional areas of the firm.

Introduction

Digitalization and the innovation that it drives are changing organizations, institutions, and society in general (Kraus et al. 2021 ). Centering attention on organizations, digitalization is provoking disruptive changes within firms and their immediate business environment, accelerating the obsolescence of the current business model (Wirtz et al. 2022 ). Digital technologies play a central role in the creation and the reinforcement of disruptions that take place in society and the levels of industry (Aström et al. 2022 ). Faced with these disruptions, organizations design strategic responses and they use digital technologies to alter pathways to value creation in which they had previously trusted for continued competitiveness. To do so, they should implement structural changes and overcome the obstacles to Digital Transformation (DT) that hinder their efforts (Hess et al. 2016 ). These disruptions trigger strategic responses among the organizations that occupy a central place in the literature on DT.

Digital technologies also alter consumer expectations and behavior in disruptive ways (Vial 2019 ). When employing these technologies, the consumer assumes the role of an active participant in the dialogue between an organization and its stakeholders (Yeow et al. 2017 ). Consequently, the clients no longer see themselves as so externally dependent on a firm with which they can negotiate (Sia et al. 2016 ) and their expectations multiply with regard to the services that the firm could offer to them. The implementation of Information Technology (IT) and organizational transformation (Gray et al. 2013 ) shifts the attention of the firm and its supply chain and directs it towards customers with digital connections.

Digital technologies can also be disruptive when altering the competitive landscape. The use of platforms ( i . e ., P2P in finance) have redefined existing markets giving rise to the sharing economy (Richter et al. 2017 ) and facilitating the exchange of digital goods and services. Competition is no longer only physical and is converted into a virtual domain where information flows are quicker and less restrictive than in the physical world and the former barriers to entry become less meaningful. This behavior can be seen in the music industry where physical goods have been replaced by subscription services for music offered by firms that had never before formed part of the industry. Companies can therefore use digital technologies both to launch new processes and to improve internal processes with their supply chains and their environment, as much as to develop new business models (Bouncken et al. 2021 ).

Given the growing importance of digitalization and its effects on firms, the main objective of this study is to improve our understanding of digitalization in the most mature areas of the firm, in order to identify gaps and future lines of investigation. To do so, we performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) for two reasons: (1) to use an adapted protocol to guide the data curation and analysis process, and to ensure objectivity (Kraus et al. 2022 ); and (2) a high-quality review paper has to follow an established methodology for the systematic selection and analysis of papers, and should periodically cover different fields to identify the latest developments (Snyder 2019 ). As with the recent SLR of Chaudhary et al. ( 2021 ), and others listed in the bibliography of this paper, this study encompasses three distinct stages: specifying the objective of the research; outlining the research protocol; and, finally, reporting the findings. Having specified the main objective of this study, the following Research Questions (RQ) are set out below:

• RQ1 : How has the literature on digitalization developed up until 2022 in relation to different areas of the firm: management, marketing, and finance and accounting?
• RQ2 : What are the principal research topics in relation to digitalization within different areas of the firm: management, marketing, and finance and accounting?
• RQ3 : What is the research agenda in relation to digitalization within different areas of the firm: management, marketing, and finance and accounting?

These research questions are addressed through the SLR approach of Tranfield, Denver, and Smart (2003) to identify and to consolidate existing knowledge for its critical analysis and to generate ideas (Ribeiro-Navarrete et al. 2021 ). It is an established approach for the generation of robust, reliable, and replicable findings (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ). In addition, it is well suited to our objective, because its purpose is to consolidate the development of knowledge by identifying gaps for future research in mature areas (Vrontis et al. 2020 ; Chaudhary et al. 2021 ). We therefore chose management, marketing, and finance and accounting as mature areas of the firm where digitalization should be reviewed.

After applying the aforementioned research protocol that will be explained in Sub-Sect.  3.1 , we will respond to the RQs. In response to RQ1, we generated descriptive statistics from peer-reviewed research articles selected by outlining the research context. We approached RQ2 by employing content analysis to outline key themes that emerged from the articles that were reviewed. Themes that researchers conducting SLR have recently often identified through the use of content analysis (Skare et al. 2022), to understand the intellectual structure of the field (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ). Finally, we responded to RQ3 by discovering gaps and avenues for future research.

The contribution of this paper to the literature is through a systematic review of the findings of 119 review articles published in academic journals on digitalization within each of the aforementioned areas. In particular, the theoretical contributions of this work are as follows: (1) to provide the most complete and updated review of digitalization from a global perspective, summarizing the current state of knowledge within an integrated framework; (2) to reduce the complexity of digitalization by offering structure and clarity; and (3) to offer links between digitalization and established points of view in the literature on management, marketing, finance and accounting. In addition, this literature review will help scholars to develop novel empirical studies of interest in subsequent investigations (Post et al. 2020 ), and to propose new routes and opportunities within this field.

Theoretical framework

Digital tools such as Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud (SMAC) technologies are driving digitalization (Teubner and Stockhinger 2020 ), and offering opportunities to change the way in which firms work (Aström et al. 2022 ). In accordance with Chan et al. ( 2022 ), social networks give market visibility to a firm and establish links with their actors; mobile networks also connect different actors within the business eco-system, and offer learning and continuous access to information at any time and place. The cloud brings accessibility, storage, and relevant information exchange, work-flow monitoring, and remote collaboration. Finally, analytics facilitates understanding of business and client needs together with the identification of opportunities and market trends, and the recommendation and provision of services and personalized communications. Digital technologies are therefore easily available to the firm and can improve its effectiveness in profitable ways (Chan et al. 2022 ), provided their introduction is accompanied by innovative business models or transformations of the traditional model (Aström et al. 2021). Nevertheless, investigation must continue on the impact of new technologies for the decision-making process of the firm (Troise et al. 2022 ) and consumer privacy (Quach et al. 2022 ).

Although SMAC technologies drive digitalization, it is not merely a technical advance, but it is also an economic and a social one too (Legner et al. 2017 ). Digitalization refers to the interaction between digital technologies and both the social the institutional processes converting these technologies into infrastructural technologies and impacting on society and the economy (Teubner and Stockhinger 2020 ), thereby advancing communication, mobility, speed, virtualization, the disappearance of frontiers, interconnections, market transparency, and competition. However, the technical process of coding analogic information in a digital format, which means that the digitalized content is programmable, traceable, and communicable is known as digitization (Yoo et al. 2010a , b ). It is a technical phenomenon and must not be confused with digitalization, because it includes fewer integral changes. Nevertheless, digitalization is found at some point between digitization and DT. DT implies immense organizational changes driven by digital technologies and, in consequence, profound alterations in business strategies and routines (Alzamora et al. 2021). However, digitalization is associated with important changes within sociotechnical structures (Yoo et al. 2010a , b ), which are reconfigured through questioning the assumptions underlying the design and the use of digital technologies (Thorseng and Grisot 2017 ). Therefore, DT is naturally connected to the topic of organizational change, viewed as a ‘difference in form, quality, or state over time in an organizational entity’ (Van de Ven and Poole 1995 , p. 512). For greater knowledge of DT in the field of management, see Hanelt et al. ( 2021 ).

When digital technologies are installed in an organization, they interact with organizational and managerial characteristics, specifically with the strategy and the legacy of an organization, as well as with the resources, the processes, the values, and the culture of an organization (Dewan et al. 2003 ), without forgetting positive attitudes towards change and technology (Dery et al. 2017 ). All these organizational antecedents are integrated and interact with environmental antecedents and the characteristics of the country, the industry, and the consumers. These characteristics include the legal conditions and the infrastructure of a country, as well as its regulatory frameworks and interventions (Cortet et al. 2016 ), and the dynamics of an industry driven by technology, which includes the changing technological panorama of a country (Alos-Simo et al. 2017 ). The above in no way ensures the success of many digital transformations within firms. In a recent study, Witschel et al. ( 2022 ) demonstrated that the innovation of the business model is an effective way of continuing to be competitive in the digital era. To do so, these authors defended the role that dynamic capabilities play in the innovation of the business model, as well as contextual factors, leadership and business mentalities. Moreover, Wen et al. ( 2022 ) affirmed that manufacturing firms with greater viability are more adaptable to DT and tend to implement differentiated competitive strategies, for which reason they concluded that the effect of incentivizing innovation is greater for firms of higher viability. The antecedents of DT (digital orientation, digital intensity, and digital maturity) were also analyzed to understand their influence on the financial success of firms (Nasisri et al. 2022). These authors maintained that digital orientation and digital intensity in themselves contributed nothing to the financial success of firms; and digital maturity acted as a mediator between digital orientation and the financial success of firms, and between digital intensity and the financial success of firms. DT, therefore, presented important opportunities for firms, but also for entrepreneurs. In the case of digital entrepreneurship, Chatterjee et al. (2022) provided evidence that perceived utility, perceived ease of use, and willingness to introduce strong and significant changes all affected digital entrepreneurship.

In addition, a DT is shaped by the characteristics of the consumer, in particular, the demand of the digital consumer. Consumers place increasing trust in digital technologies throughout their daily lives and personal interactions (Brynjolfsson et al. 2013 ) and expect ubiquitous access to virtual resources (Benlian et al. 2018 ). Both the appearance of digital technologies and their diffusion have led to greater data availability (on these aspects, see Vial 2019 , p.123), which has in turn increased the importance of automated learning and the analysis of data for organizations (Weichert 2017 ). These data enable firms to offer services that better respond to the needs of their clients and to complete processes in more efficient ways for their own competitive advantage. Thus, some firms use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to institute customer care operations and then use the data that are generated from these interactions to appeal to client sentiment in real time. Finally, the digital industrial transformation, known as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 implies a change of paradigm from a hyperconnected and centralized manufacturing ecosystem to a decentralized one (Li et al. 2019 ). Under Industry 4.0, intelligent physical objects, decentralized subsystems, and even human components are perfectly integrated within an interoperable, hyperconnected, and decentralized production system (see Hodapp and Hanelt 2022) that is capable of adapting in real time and in an autonomous manner to environmental change (Ardito et al. 2019 ; Sanchez et al. 2020 ). Khan and Javaid (2022) considered that the IoT was a critical component of Industry 4.0, which improved product manufacturing efficiency, because it was done with fewer errors and costs. Somohano-Rodiríguez et al. (2022), analyzing the role that enabling digital Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies played in SME innovations, found that strategic planning advanced I4.0 and that enabling Information and Communication digital technologies promoted innovation more intensely than enabling digital technologies for integration and advanced robotics. Bhatia and Kumar ( 2022 ) analyzed the critical success factors of I4.0, highlighting “data governance” as the most critical factor.

The scope of the DT under Industry 4.0 expands beyond individual firms, involving the vertical integration of production systems and the horizontal integration of partners in a value chain (Tiwari 2020 ). Thanks to unprecedented commercial exploitation of social networks, Industry 4.0 also implies the integration of the client (Ghobakhloo 2020 ). Specifically, the findings of Kurniawan et al. ( 2022 ) made it clear that DT in the waste sector, not only promoted the recovery of non-biodegradable waste resources for a circular economy, but it also meant that the local community could perform online transactions of recycled goods through mobile apps. The industrial reports reveal that digitalization under Industry 4.0 offers numerous economic benefits for manufacturing, product quality, savings on operating costs, and performance in general (Dalenogare et al. 2018 ). Finally, if the adoption of I4.0 is a challenge for firms, the consideration of Industry 4.0 in the industry of sustainability is much more difficult (Verma et al. 2022 ).

Research methodology

Bearing in mind the earlier definition of digitalization, DT, Industry 4.0, and digital technologies, this SLR of digitalization and its effects on the firm is focused on three large mature areas: management, marketing, and finance, and accounting. The main reason for this study with its SLR methodology is because it has been verified that past reviews have employed various methodologies on different digital technologies, aspects of DT, digitalization, and Industry 4.0. However, no SLR by firm area has been found that presents a picture of existing research, research gaps, and future lines of research on digitization. Therefore, the novelty of this study is (1) in going beyond another review of some aspect of digital technologies, digitization or DT; and (2) in preparing an over-arching SLR of previously published review articles -rather than empirical articles- that integrates the above-mentioned mature areas of the firm.

Its methodological approach is explained and defined in what follows. Having proposed the main goal and the RQs in the introduction, first, the identification of the data set is defined. The Web of Science database (WoS) was chosen for the literature search, because it was considered to provide both adequate and comprehensive collections of relevant academic literature (Raff et al. 2020 ). Second, it was decided to use PRISMA as a systematic review protocol describing the rationale, hypothesis, and planning methods of the review (Shamseer et al. 2015 ). The application of the PRISMA protocol has helped to create a dataset of papers. Third, content-based research was conducted to analyze the content of the papers, and to identify the main bibliographic information in each paper and the relationship with different management, marketing, finance and accounting topics. Data processing helps to identify two kinds of findings. First, the descriptive statistics that link digitalization and different topics related to management, marketing, and finance and accounting (publications by years and citations, contribution by journals, country analysis, and so on). Second, the research trends and thematic area are defined through a co-concurrence analysis of the keywords using VOSviewer software.

Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords is a technique for analyzing the primary content of selected publications (Guo et al. 2019 ) with which essential words may be viewed in a search field along with co-occurrences (Secinaro et al. 2022 ). According to Skare et al. (2022), the co-occurrence analysis of the keywords also involved an analysis of the article abstracts to identify clusters of terms. A cluster is a non-overlapping set of interlinked terms. The co-occurrence of terms in the abstracts formed various clusters. The strength of the links between terms based on co-occurrence frequency was rated.

Vosviewer software can be used to construct relations and to visualize literature based on information in the academic literature. It can display the development and the emerging publication trends of a discipline over time. VOSviewer5 software identifies predominant terms and the co-occurrence across all articles during the analysis (Biggi and Giuliani 2020 ). The output of the process is the clustering of terms into dominant themes.

A detailed description of the research analysis and results is provided in the following sections.

The PRISMA protocol and the systematic literature review (SLR) approach

A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted to understand the relevant trend of studies on digitalization, adopting a consolidated approach: the PRISMA protocol (Moher et al. 2015 ; Nyagadza 2022 ). An SLR was performed to identify and to select research studies related to a specific research question for their evaluation and summary, in a fair, rigorous, and transparent manner (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ), so as to identify potential avenues for further research, and to highlight the boundaries of existing knowledge (Tranfield et al. 2003 ). Furthermore, SLR is suitable for our study, because previous research is summarized in that sort of study in a novel perspective (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ). Systematic reviews, as the name suggests, typically involve detailed and comprehensive planning and a search strategy designed a priori , so as to reduce bias (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ) by identifying, appraising, and summarizing all relevant studies on a particular topic (Uman 2011 ).

The PRISMA protocol provides a flow diagram that helps with the steps of the SLR process: identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. The first purpose of this method is to plan, to identify, and to evaluate studies to extract, and to summarize data from the literature (Tranfield et al. 2003 ), ensuring that the bibliographic research is at once objective, transparent, and replicable. The reason for choosing this (PRISMA) protocol between other standards and guidelines (Snyder 2019 ) is that its analytical methodological approach is very clear and easy to understand (Moher et al. 2015 ). The protocol is shown below in Fig.  1 .

PRISMA protocol

Identification

The initial search on different databases showed that most relevant literature was listed in the previously mentioned WoS. In addition, the WoS Core Collection was chosen to remove the ‘noise’ that could lower the accuracy of the results. No references published in other databases such as Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science, Emerging Sources Citation Index, and Book Citation Index-Science were considered in this study. WoS Core™ is an internationally recognized database that reflects levels of activity in scientific research and has been widely used in many studies (Thompson and Walker 2015 ; Yu and Liao 2016 ; Emmer 2018 ; Muhuri et al. 2019 ). In addition, Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is one of the most widely used publications for the evaluation of journal impact using a database of citations. Complete and neutral data are searched for in the database, which can provide a reasonable foundation for data analysis. Besides, the SSCI databases are included in WoS, making the analytic results more accurate and comprehensive (Zhou et al. 2019 ). The search was conducted in the WoS database on 10, 11, and 13 May, 2022.

As the purpose was to conduct a comprehensive search, in order to establish the current body of literature and knowledge in digitalization in different areas of business, management, and economics, several keywords were included in the search: digital*, “accounting”, “auditing”, “banking”, “insurance”, “taxation”, “financial structure and capital”, “marketing”, “business strategy”, “corporate governance”, “entrepreneurship”, “human resources management”, “innovation management”, “risk management”, “organization”, “production”, and “logistics”. In addition, “information systems” were included, because there might be publications within the area of business and management; and “health economics”, given its relation with the economy.

The selection of keywords and precise search strings are important and difficult tasks during the analysis of the literature (Kraus et al. 2020 ). The articles are identified based on the combination of keywords that could help researchers focus on the targeted literature, which are Digital* and all those topics related with Business and Management: digital* AND accounting (3,331), digital* AND auditing (332), digital* AND banking (886), digital* AND insurance (343), digital* AND taxation (71); digital* AND “financial structure and capital”(1); digital* AND marketing (5,901); digital* AND “business strategy” (193); digital* AND “corporate governance” (73), digital* AND entrepreneurship (1,232); digital* AND “human resources management” (19); digital* AND “innovation management” (84); digital* AND “risk management” (224); digital* AND organization (5,697); digital* AND production (3,535); digital* AND logistic (1,100), digital* AND “information systems” (2,771) and digital* AND “health economics” (83). These combinations of keywords were entered in the topic section of the WoS database. In each case, the number of articles appears between parentheses.

The following step was to revise whether each publication found after the previous step was accessible, leading to the removal of 5 articles. Then, a reading of the abstracts of the articles found under the categories “Health Economics” and Information Systems”, led to the removal of a further 83 articles.

Eligibility criteria

Before conducting the search, a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria were decided upon. In an preliminary phase, the inclusion criteria were publication in peer-reviewed journals, type of article, review articles and early access (25,023), documents included in the WoS were: Business, Management, Business Finance, Economics, Operations Research Management Science and Computer Science Information Systems (9,867), English language (9,316), literature from 2018-April 2022 (5,925), because an analysis of the publications from 1956-April 2022 indicated that most of them had been published between 2018 and 2021. In each case, the number of articles appears between parentheses.

Regarding the exclusion criteria, all articles that were not review articles (5,629) were removed, because the review articles were seen to predominate over the period under study. Finally, 83 duplicated articles were removed, leaving a total de 213 articles.

The next step was quality assessment including scanning the abstract and selection of papers, leaving a final sample of 119 articles (see Appendix 1). In all, 94 articles were removed for different reasons: empirical papers with a literature review, review articles that were not an SLR, and articles not directly addressing topics related to management, business, and economics.

The articles under the different categories of the WoS classification, in the areas of management, marketing, finance and accounting were grouped together to achieve the tasks described above, as may be observed in Table  1 , so as to have as many articles as possible to analyze.

Number of review articles under different categories of the WoS

The specific questions listed in Table  2 were answered to perform the analysis of the articles.

Research questions and content analysis

How has the literature on digitalization developed up until 2022 in relation to different areas of the firm: marketing, management, and finance and accounting?

In this section, the main analyses of the corpus are presented, as described in Sect.  3 , starting with the distribution of the papers on a yearly basis, the scientific journal of publication, and the country. These analyses are performed, in order to understand how the interest in digitalization related to business economics has been gaining importance over time.

In Fig.  2 , a substantial increase of review articles may be observed as from 2020, whereas before that year, the number of publications was less frequent. This item of information was the principal reason for this SLR on review articles and not on articles. An analysis of the periods of study of the review articles supports the earlier results, because 27.87% of the review articles under analysis were undertaken within a time frame up until 2020, 21.31% within a time frame up until 2019, and 15.57% of the SLR, up until 2021.

Number of articles by year (2018–2022)

Although the corpus included articles from 76 different journals, 50.82% of the papers in the corpus were published in 50 journals and another 49.18% were published in 26 journals, reflecting high fragmentation within the literature. Figure  3 reports the journals that have published at least two papers on the topics of our study. The fragmentation observed in the literature is owing to 31 journals that are closely linked to the disciplines of accounting and finance, management, business and marketing, while the others are related with transversal and multi-disciplinary issues. Thus, some papers of the corpus have been published in journals that are focused more on operations ( i . e ., Annals of Operations Research), transportation ( i . e ., Research on Transportation Economics), and sectors (Engineering construction and Architectural Management).

Number of articles by publication (2018–2022)

In Fig.  4 , it may be seen that Europe leads the number of published review articles with almost 50% of the publications shared between England, Italy, Germany, and France. The Australian continent follows on with 14.75% between Australia and New Zealand, and finally North America with 13.12% between the USA and Canada. 8.20% of the corpus under analysis was published in India.

Number of articles by country (2018–2022)

The references from each of the 119 articles under consideration in this study were analyzed to respond to questions RQ1.1 and RQ1.2. In addition, the references of each of the 119 articles with a number of citations ≥ 100 were selected, as the purpose was to highlight those articles that have been cited most of all among the articles under analysis and the most influential articles. A total of 764 references with 100 or more citations were extracted from the 26 articles on marketing, of which only 8.25% had been cited two or more times in the articles under study.

In Fig.  5 , the most frequently cited marketing publications may be seen, highlighting the article of Lemon, K. and Verhoerf, P., titled Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey published in 2016 in the Journal of Marketing . However, the most influential article with a total of 3,670 citations (367 citations per year) was published in 2012 by the authors Venkatesh, V., Tong, J and Xu, X in MIS Quarterly titled Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. In Table  3 , other articles may be seen that were also influential in the field of marketing and digitalization.

Most frequently cited authors of review article published in the field of marketing and digitalization

Top 10 Marketing references with the highest average number of citations per year

It may be seen that Peter Verhoef is one of the most cited authors within the field of digitalization and marketing. He has three articles among the most frequently cited in the articles under analysis each of which has a high number of citations forming a network with Katherine Lemmon.

In Fig.  6 , the most productive source in marketing may be seen in the field of digitalization. All journals are specialized in marketing except the Journal of Business Research that is more generalist.

Top 10 most productive sources

Of the 79 articles on management, 2,606 references with 100 or more citations were found, of which 18% were cited at least twice in the articles under analysis.

In Fig.  7 , the most frequently cited articles with at least 5 citations from the corpus may be seen. The article that stands out with 9% of all citations is (11) “The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: an Agenda for Information Systems Research” by the authors Yoo, Y. J. Henfridsson, O. and Lyytinen, K., written in 2010, and published in Information Systems Research . These authors stand out for having created a research network on organization and digitalization.

Most frequently cited authors of review articles published in the field of management and digitalization

In Table  4 , the most influential articles in the field of digitalization and management can be seen. With almost 754 citations, Barney, J. ( 1991 ) is the most influential author with his article Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage published in the Journal of Management . Nevertheless, it is also worth mentioning the article titled Literature review of industry 4.0 and related technologies written by E. Oztemet, and S. Gursev ( 2020 ) in the Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing with 218 citations by year.

Top 10 management-related references with the highest average number of citations per year

In Fig.  8 , the most productive source of management in the field of digitalization can be seen. Most journals are within the field of management. The Strategic Management Journal stands out amongst the others as the journal that has published most of all on digitalization and management.

Finally, of the 17 articles on finance and accounting, 100 of the 543 references were cited, of which 17.31% were cited at least twice in the articles analyzed in this area.

In Fig.  9 , the most widely cited publications can be seen in digitalization, and finance and accounting, highlighting the work of the Massaro, M., Dumay, J., and Guthrie, J. ( 2016 ) titled “On The Shoulders of Giants: Undertaking a Structured Literature Review in Accounting” in Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal .

Most frequently cited authors of review articles published in the field of finance-accounting and digitalization

Among the most widely cited references, the most influential is one from the authors Gossling, S., Scott, D., and Hall, C.M. (2021) titled Pandemics, Tourism and Global Change: a Rapid Assessment of Covid-19 , published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism with a total of 1,187 citations (1,187 in one year). This article is within risk management in the area of finance. In Table  5 , it may be seen that there are other references that even though less cited among the corpus of finance and accounting under analysis have a larger number of citations. No cooperative network with a higher number of citations has been observed. No cooperative research network was observed among the authors under analysis.

Top 10 finance-accounting and digitalization-related references with the highest average number of citations per year

In Fig.  10 , the most productive sources in finance and accounting in the field of digitalization can be observed. Most of the journals are not within the field of finance and accounting. The Journal of Finance stands out as the specialized journal in which most papers on digitalization and finance and accounting have been published.

Principal topics and analysis of research trends within marketing, management, and finance and accounting

A co-occurrence analysis was completed to respond to RQ2 and to establish the topics of interest of both the set of articles on digitalization and each functional area of the firm: accounting and finances, marketing, and management. The analysis was performed in two ways, to obtain results of greater reliability: based on keywords and based on titles and abstracts. Both gave the same results for the co-occurrence analysis in the 3 areas under analysis. The analysis based on keywords, titles, and abstracts is therefore described below.

First, the groups formed on the basis of titles, abstracts, and keywords were sought in the set of articles for their identification (VanEck and Waltman 2010 ). VOSviewer 1.6.15 (VanEck and Waltman 2010 ) was employed for this analysis. A minimum number of five occurrences to consider a term is suggested for this tool. However, in this analysis, the number of occurrences was varied as a function of the number of articles that were analyzed. The generic terms such as “article”, “review”, “systematic review”, “systematic literature review” were removed during the data cleaning process, as it was a review of a sample of articles. In addition, similar terms were grouped under one single term (van Eck and Wallman 2010, 2020), such as “Covid-19”, “Covid” and “pandemic”, or B2B and “business-to-business”. In the following figures, the clusters obtained for each area are shown. The nodes represent keywords or concepts, while their size reflects their frequency (van Eck and Waltman 2010 , 2020 ). VOSviewer represented each group of keywords with a different color. This analysis was repeated within each and every area.

In the area of marketing, we set a minimum of 2 occurrences for the analysis of concurrence, for a term to be considered in the programme, because we had a relatively low number of (26) publications. The most frequency cited topics gave us an idea of the structure of the topics that have been investigated most of all and that have contributed to the development of digitalization in marketing. In Fig.  11 , the 5 clusters obtained from the previously detailed co-occurrence analysis are shown.

• Cluster 1 has “performance” as a highlighted node and groups other keywords such as “digital marketing”, “co-creation”, “customer engagement”, “adoption”, “customers”. Thus, the cluster is related with digital marketing performance and is centered on adoption and engagement from the perspective of the consumer.
• Cluster 2 has “social media” as a highlighted node and groups together other keywords such as “management”, “digital technologies”, “travel”, purchase intention”, “acceptance”, “Word-of-Mouth” (WOM), and “strategy”. This cluster is related with the acceptance and management of social media as a marketing strategy, directed at WOM and purchase intention of the consumer. The most frequently cited and therefore the most investigated topics were WOM, purchase intention, and digital technologies.
• Cluster 3 has “knowledge” as a highlighted node and groups other keywords such as “big data”, “consumer behavior”, “Covid 19”, “business”, and “decision-making”. This cluster was related with knowledge of consumer behavior through big-data technology, above all during the Covid-19 pandemic, to facilitate decision-taking within firms.
• Cluster 4 has “impact” as the highlighted node and groups other keywords such as “relationship management”, “engagement”, “campaign”, and “digital technologies”. This cluster is related with the impact of mass-media campaigns through digital technologies measured through engagement and managerial relations. Most present-day studies have examined the acquisition of a mobile device in the context of publicity and the marketing of services.

The result of the co-occurrence analysis in the field of marketing and digitalization

Finally, Cluster 5 has “customer journey” as a highlighted node and it groups together other key words such as “customer experience”, “online”, “innovation”, and “dominant logic”. This cluster is related with the customer journey via online outlets for the purchase of a product and the product experience.

In short, social networks have been turned into the most influential channel of digital marketing, creating an imminent need for the specialists in digital marketing to exploit transformative marketing even more so. Compiling data from social networks for the analysis of consumer opinion (Micu et al. 2018 ) has created additional opportunities to explore programs created on social media platforms to compile, to analyze, and to understand consumer data.

We had 76 publications within the area of management to conduct the co-occurrence analysis. As it is a greater number of articles than in the case of marketing, the terms were required to appear in at least 4 publications. The 4 clusters that were obtained may be observed in Fig.  12 :

• Cluster 1 has “management” as a highlighted node and groups together other keywords such as: “performance”, “information”, “knowledge” “business”, “organizations”, “communities”, and “Covid-19”. This cluster is related with the management and the performance of information to convert it into knowledge for organizations, businesses, and communities.
• Cluster 2 has “innovation” as a highlighted node and groups together other keywords such as: “digital transformation”, “dynamic capabilities”, “information technology”, “big data analytics”, information systems”, “value creation”, “firm performance”, “competitive advantage” and cyber-physics. This cluster is related with innovation in everything related with DT that affects dynamic capabilities, information technology, information systems, value creation, competitive advantage, and firm performance. Briefly, it could be said that it is related with malleable organizational designs (Hanelt et al. 2021 ), so that firms that are easily influenceable and flexible can continue adapting to their environments.
• Cluster 3 has “technologies” as the highlighted node and groups together other keywords such as “internet”, “supply-chain management”, “impact”, “logistics”, “entrepreneurship”, “business model”, and digitalization”. This cluster is related with Internet technologies and digitalization that impact on logistics, and on supply chain management, as well as those that set up business models and favor entrepreneurship. It could be said to be related with the ecosystems of digital business models (Hanelt et al. 2021 ).
• Cluster 4 has “Industry 4.0” as the highlighted node and groups together keywords such as “big data”, “challenges”, and “future”. This cluster is related with big data and its appearance in the firm, as a future challenge.

The result of the co-occurrence analysis of review articles in the field of management and digitalization

In short, the closeness between the nodes indicates that all the topics are interrelated, even though they belong to different clusters. Sustainability may be highlighted as the most distant topic.

Finance and accounting

The areas of Finance and Accounting were linked, because the number of articles in each one of them was excessively small to conduct the analysis. In this way, there were 17 articles to complete the co-occurrence analysis. The minimum chosen number of occurrences was 2. Two clusters appear in Fig.  13 .

The result of the co-occurrence analysis in the field of finance-accounting and digitalization

“Fintech” and “Blockchain” were the most highlighted nodes within Cluster 1 and grouped together such words as “financial technologies”, “innovation”, “information”, “financial services”, and banking”. This cluster was related with technologies such as blockchain applied to financial services (Fintech) and to banking. It may be said that mainstream commercial banks accept the impact of technology, the way in which financial services are changing, and the way new business models are gaining ground in the financial industry. A large number of “Fintech” firms, “Fintech” industries, and “Fintech” markets have emerged.

The most highlighted node in Cluster 2, “accounting”, grouped together such keywords as “impact”, “cryptocurrency” “digitalization”, “risk management”. This cluster is related with the digitalization of accounting, the impact of cryptocurrency, and risk management. Cryptocurrency is within a different cluster to the one in which blockchain belongs, but it is close enough, because cryptocurrency cannot be analyzed without mentioning the technological foundation of cryptocurrency: blockchain technology.

In this section, the findings of this SLR conducted within the field of digitalization in business economics are reported.

The progress of marketing throughout this period where digitalization has dominated can be summarized in the following way. When consumers identified search engines as a means of searching for information, studies on marketing through search engines emerged (Dou et al. 2001 ), giving rise to a new area of investigation: digital marketing. In turn, the studies within this area accelerated the growth of the “e-WOM” or electronic Word-of-Mouth, between 2000 and 2004. Two articles by Dellarocas ( 2003 ), and Godes and Mayzlin ( 2004 ) may be highlighted. The latter author discovered the interaction between offline and online environments, giving rise to three concepts that were to be the source of research over the coming decade: Zero-Moment-Of-Truth (ZMOT) (Lecinski 2011 ), webrooming (Flavian et al. 2016), and single-channel retailing (Blom et al. 2017 ).

In the retail trade, as the level of consumer engagement with online retailing formats has progressed, the focal interest of research has shifted towards the online experiences (Novak et al. 2000 ) and their value and costs. The quality of the virtual experience with electronic services has led researchers to investigate the concept of the quality of the electronic service, analyzed from the point of view of the client (Yi and Gong 2008 ), the system (Bronner and Kuijlen 2007 ), and the retailer (Venkatesan et al. 2007 ). Consumer privacy has been turned into one of the central research topics, with the compilation, storage, and distribution of consumer data (Norberg et al. 2007 ). With the growth of single-channel retailing, studies on consumer responses to the delivery of value went beyond decision making. Retail commerce understood as an extension of brand communities, investigative attention has been centered on brand attachment, love and hate, and different emotional responses of consumers to marketing stimuli (Bleier et al. 2019 ; Petit et al. 2019 ).

The above-mentioned lines of investigation have led researchers to center their attention on the concept of value or the delivery of value to facilitate persuasion, and consumer satisfaction and loyalty. Analyzing the concept of value and its meaning for the consumer in the digital environment (Gallarza et al. 2011 ), taking a step forward, marketing research began to analyze another two value components: utilitarian and hedonic values (Childers et al. 2001 ).

Digital advertising emerges and more specifically, the effectiveness of publicity, measured through clickstream data that has become a new line of investigation (Tucker 2014 ). The rapid improvements to digital publicity gave rise to new techniques such as retargeting through online offers (Berger and Milkman 2012 ), and other topics such as user-generated content, online reviews (Floyd et al. 2014 ), online offers, and WOM marketing (King et al. 2014 ).

Up until 2014, topics such as multi-channels and mobiles remained emergent yet unexplored investigative areas (Lamberton and Stephen 2016 ). It was after the article of de Verhoef et al. ( 2015 ) when single-channel marketing captured growing interest in the investigation (with early examples such as Yoo and Lee 2011 ; Dinner et al. 2014 ;). With regard to mobile telephony, Atkinson ( 2013 ) produced the earliest study on the use of QR codes for purchases. As consumers gained greater familiarity with digital technologies and started to interact with digital channels in different ways, investigations began into the analysis of their emotional responses to marketing, and into consumer commitment towards digital channels and digital mediums. A new tool appeared for the marketing specialists: “User-Generated Content” (UGC) as an extension of eWOM that had been one of the previously analyzed topics. The works on UGC were gradually diversified towards online review (Bilro et al. 2019 ; Van Laer et al. 2019 ), eWOM (Chu and Kim 2018 ), and the content generated in online brand communities (Hollebeek et al. 2017 ).

In the field of consumers, the investigation has been centered on such topics as consumer participation in social networks and the co-creation of value. Particularly, collaborative consumption and social exchanges have been present since the first decade of the new Millennium, with the first investigations on renting loans and the exchange of different articles using digital platforms (Mohlmann 2015; Hwang and Griffiths 2017 ; Dellaert 2019 ). As digital forums are consolidated, digital products are also created such as social network accounts, games, music, videos, and avatars, giving rise to a new investigative topic: digital music and the psychological property of digital goods among consumers (Bardhi and Eckhardt 2017 ). This topic is an extension of the virtual experiences analyzed earlier.

It is difficult to describe the progress of research over time into digitalization in the field of management, because consideration must be given to each aspect of the organization of a firm: supply chain management, logistics, manufacturing, human resources management, knowledge management, business management, entrepreneurship. We have therefore centered on the more general lines of research.

The firm has to have the capability to detect and to take advantage of interruptions, through strategic responses, and to reorganize its business model components, when faced with DT. Therefore, dynamic capabilities are a topic of investigation, which has been centered on: (1) adapting these capabilities to support DT; (2) integrating the capabilities into the reality of digital platforms and ecosystems; and (3) sustaining them through a micro-analysis from the perspective of the Chief Digital Officer.

One pattern that is observed in the DT are the malleable organizational designs based on digital technologies and agile structures for rapid adaptation to environmental opportunities and threats. Data-based operations and decision making are upheld by automated virtual commercial processes, as well as technology-centered management. Finally, the results of the digital business models centered on client and digital experience, and intelligent connected and personalized products can be related with the mechanism of instantaneous launches, because it is a matter of dynamically adaptable and scalable market offers.

In the context of a DT, it is easy for firms to become aware of the importance of malleable organizational design. Both access to large volumes of data and the technologies for their analysis, for detecting changes within the business environment and the capability to adapt activities that are based on flexible digital technologies prompt continuous changes on the basis of environmental feedback, and emerging opportunities. At the same time, however, it is more difficult for the firm to distinguish the source of the change and if its development is within or beyond its limits, because it may be provoked by external agents such as clients and developers (Parker et al. 2017 ). In addition, a large part of the technological configuration might be beyond the control of a given firm and might be developed in an unpredictable way, under the will of external actors, such as technological giants and new digital firms. Operations and decisions based on data adjust themselves to the commentaries within a business setting, for example from the clients, when using the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automatic learning to detect changes and to react automatically to them. Rapid transformation requires firms to modify their stance and capabilities for agreement with the new opportunities that dynamically emerge and die down. Therefore, in the course of the DT, continual adaptation assisted by malleable organizational designs contribute to a wholistic confluence of the turbulence within business settings, information technological systems, and organizational capabilities. A situation known as “digital ecodynamics”, which “has no separations between its three central elements, as it is rather the fusion of all the interactions between all three elements” (El Sawy et al. 2010 , p. 837).

The appearance of digital business ecosystems is another topic of DT within the firm. These ecosystems define business environments “formed by a network of interdependencies specifically generated through digital technologies” (Kopalle et al. 2020 , pp. 114–15). As some shape is given to the decisions of the firm on where and how to compete, business ecosystems are an essential topic for the strategy (Jacobides et al. 2018 ). Over past decades, numerous firms have distanced themselves from integrated and hierarchized supply chains and are moving closer to more fragmented networks of strategic associations with external entities (Bitran et al. 2007 ). However, over the course of a DT, the digital business ecosystems are now not only interesting for information technology and software industries, but they are also increasingly relevant in all sectors as digital technologies spread throughout industry and society.

A key differentiating factor that distinguishes digital business ecosystems is their turbulent nature (El Sawy and Perreira 2013). In the context of entrepreneurial ecosystems, this turbulence is especially visible in the great quantity and heterogeneity of interdependent partners who give shape to the competition (Jacobides et al. 2018 ), the generalized diffusion and the adoption of generative, interconnected technologies (Kopalle et al. 2020 ), and the preferences of clients that undergo constant change (Downes and Nunes 2013 ). The research emphasizes the relevance of these factors and, therefore, a general movement towards digital business ecosystems (Bouncken and Kraus 2022 ). For example, it is evident that DT is activated and molded by a large quantity of different digital technologies and applications such as blockchain technologies, IA, and IoTs. In addition, consumers increasingly incorporate technology into their daily routines and personal interactions, which has profound implications for their demands and expectations with respect to the offers and the communications with firms.

Firms must now compete with a larger number of competitors, numerous industries and, in some cases, with completely different commercial models. A change may be appreciated towards interconnected markets in which the participants are involved in numerous networks of exchange that grow and dissolve very easily. This sort of change can mainly be attributed to the ubiquity of Internet and other related technologies upon which these networks in large measure depend, which in general leads to digitally permeated markets. In addition, the convergence of previously separated industries may be observed as heterogenous actors from different industries increasingly operate and compete within the same markets, due to the possibilities of digital technologies, which amass the experiences of previously disconnected users ( i . e ., Broad-band Internet, telephony, and television) (Yoo et al. 2012 ).

Due to the growing turbulence, digital business ecosystems are “changing the rules of the game in many industries through the disruption of business models” (Pagani 2013 p. 617). However, among the digital business ecosystems, the value proposals that are followed can radically change within a short period of time (Yoo et al. 2012 ). The participants within the digital business ecosystems, their positions, and their roles are subject to constant changes. In addition, firms co-create and co-capture value with a great variety of heterogenous actors who go beyond suppliers and traditional clients and range from individuals to communities of emergent firms, technological giants, and social actors (Rubio-Andrés et al. 2022 ; El Sawy and Perreira 2013). A completely new level of interconnections and interdependency arises and undergoes constant growth, due to the low entry barriers for practically everybody.

In summary, the change towards a flexible organizational design is integrated and is driven by the digital business ecosystems and cannot be considered in isolation (Hanelt et al. 2021 ). This relation is affected by the specific aspects and changes related with the conditions of the business environment. The scope of the environment can vary throughout one continuum, from a “narrow” scope, which is generally focused on specific elements related to the digital business ecosystems and their relation with organizational design, up to a “broad” scope examining thematic patterns of the DT in a more holistic way.

Financial technology appeared for the first time in 2000, which suggests that the technology might have been the basis for the development of the Fintech industry. While some researchers are exploring how banks can use strategies related with entrepreneurial orientation to achieve an excellent performance in the digital era (Niemand et al. 2021), others are investigating how fully virtual operations affect the experience of service and financial habits of users (Windasari et al. 2022 ). In addition, the demand for money and the financial markets are not only salient topics of investigation of Fintech, but they are also classic topics when investigating the financial industry.

In a period of rapid development of Fintech, many hot terms were generated between 2016 and 2018 such as the regulation of digital currencies and banking sectors, financial transactions and their success, the Fintech industry in global banks, and the new Fintech firms. In-depth AI learning, blockchain, and other information technologies were also investigated (Marinakis and White 2022 ), as well as the digital wallet, mobile payment service models, P2P lending, and equity crowdfunding transaction models.

The new topics that emerged between 2018 and 2021 reflected the most recent Fintech-related developments. First, the traditional banking industry occupies an essential position within traditional finance, and the banking system and the digital bank are the last directions for development to obtain competitive advantage. Second, the intelligent contract and the payment system is a new and important technology for digital finance. Third, an increasing number of studies have centered on the reputational scores of individual investors and consumer satisfaction. Competition between banks and the efficiency of the processes are therefore important factors that test the development of firms that finance technology. Fourth, crowdfunding and blockchain are two different forms of altering and innovating traditional financial intermediaries, achieving the transformation of a business model (Cai 2018 ).

Information technology provides guarantees for problems of consumer security. The topic of smart data storage to protect both the privacy and the trust of the consumer is principally related with the field of information safety, which is supported by information-privacy technology, and encryption technology. Academics have launched a series of studies on data-security questions: smart data storage protected by privacy for the financial industry through cloud-computing technology (Qiu et al. 2018 ), the development of standards for smart financial contracts (Brammertz and Mendelowitz 2018 ), the application of the blockchain framework to insurance processes within the insurance industry (Raikwar et al. 2018 ), and secure authentification protocols for mobile payments (Fan et al. 2018 ). However, Fintech payment services still face challenges in terms of authorization, integrity, privacy, and availability, which affects consumer trust. Information technology is the premise for guaranteeing the security of data and service quality, thereby improving consumer trust even more so (Wiradinata 2018 ; Sarkar et al. 2020 ). Some studies have explored how the use of mobile digital payments influences purchasing in terms of such factors as service quality and security (Tang et al. 2021). Khoa ( 2021 ) demonstrated that both the benefits and the risks that the consumer perceives are important considerations for the users of mobile payment platforms. See Sun et al. (2021) for more detailed information on Fintech-related tendencies and topics.

With regard to accounting, digitalization leads professionals to move beyond their occupational limits. In this way, examples arise of situations in which the boundaries between professions become hazy. One revealing example was provided by Arnaboldi et al. ( 2017 ), who showed how media marketing specialists entered the area of accounting taking the lead in the management of social networks. Their study indicated that when the professionals crossed the organizational limits, the hybridization of professional roles became self-evident. In Arnaboldi et al. ( 2017 ), hybridization referred to a situation in which the actors of the organization migrated to other organizational areas, in other words, when marketing specialists entered the terrain of traditional accounting, or when accounting professionals took charge of digitalization initiatives. Social networks have relaxing effects on professional boundaries (Arnaboldi et al. 2017 ), the driving force being the development of digital tools and techniques. Finally, cryptocurrencies have won broad acceptance in the market and made rapid development despite their recent launches. The academic community has also made considerable efforts to investigate cryptocurrency commerce (see Fang et al. 2022 ).

Research agenda

Research into the digitalization of the firm has to be continuous, because technology is a dynamic organism (Prasad and Green 2015 ) and, consequently, its impact on the firm is also dynamic. In this section, the emergent tendencies of digitalization are analyzed in the different areas of the firm and identified in various firms, while responding to research question RQ3.

Theoretical contributions

The systemic review presented in this paper on digitalization in the different functional areas of the firm has highlighted that some theories have hardly been taken into account in any of the disciplines considered in this investigation that support aspects of digitalization, DT, and the digital technologies that have been analyzed. The extended technology acceptance model has been employed for the digitalization of the firm in the area of marketing, in order to estimate the degree of consumer acceptance of digitalization (Labus, 2022 ), although adaptive theoretical frameworks centered on the Fishbein-Ajzen behavioral-intentions model have also been used (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975 ; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980 ). Mental process, the motivation of the consumer, attitudinal and behavioral models, and the relations between the consumer and the brand are found among a number of investigations that have significantly increased (Park and Yoo 2020 ). However, understanding the effects of mobile technologies on the life of the digital consumer has been turned into a need for effective marketing (Vahdat et al. 2021 ). In the case of immersive technologies (augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)), models are needed that include consumer characteristics such as motivations, experience, and familiarity, since these attributes are what change consumer perceptions of both the risks and the benefits of real value. The theoretical progress in management has led to the generation of new theoretical models or the adaptation of existing ones when the limits of DT exceed the established theoretical models (Hanelt et al. 2021 ). Technological impact, compartmentalized adaptation, systemic change, and holistic co-evaluation (Hanelt et al. 2021 ) are perspectives that imply an organizational change associated with the generalized diffusion of digital technologies.

Although the evolution of research on digitalization on marketing as a discipline has been centered on the concept of value and its meaning for the consumer in the digital world, as well as on its components -utilitarian and hedonic values- and on joint value creation -collaborative consumption-, some interesting topics have been highlighted in this paper on the frontier between the firm and the consumer, such as value creation and co-creation, technological advances such as AI, AR and VR in apps, impacting on consumer preferences and behavior. The dominant theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies identified in the analysis of consumer brand personality perceptions were employed to study the perceptions of consumers towards the personality of digital brands within different digital contexts, such as websites and online stores, social media (mobiles apps and online community), new technologies (AR, mixed reality and VR), and other contexts (online games, virtual worlds and metaverse), without forgetting the interaction between the consumer and AI, such as IoT-based devices, smart objects, chatbots, intelligent assistants, service/social robots, wearables, and AI-driven algorithms/platforms. The digital channels and the use of technology in the omnichannel marketing, or the integration of channels (Hossain et al. 2020 ), and touchpoints (Wagner et al. 2020 ) are some of the aspects that have been analyzed in this review. In the retail field, we have highlighted the importance of data within the single-channel context and the proliferation of online technologies and devices that access such data on Internet. Nevertheless, entrepreneurial practices initiated in response to the pandemics have opened new horizons of research (Yaghtin et al. 2021 ): (1) electronic commerce platforms and satisfying the information needs of clients; (2) products and services within digital showrooms; (3) digital contents to discover new market opportunities; and (4) the data and their high quality analysis, as well as the implementation of other data-based techniques such as automatic learning methods for high-quality data presentations, are posited as acceptable practice to attract clients to the digital platform of firms.

With regard to management, while the interest of research in DT is growing, there are still considerable uncertainties as to what DT is and what it covers. The result is that previous knowledge of organizational change can be problematic as the basis for a better understanding of the phenomenon and to offer informed counsel for practice. DT is defined here as organizational change that is triggered and molded by generalized diffusion of digital technology. The content of this change encompasses a movement towards malleable organizational designs that are integrated and driven by digital business ecosystems. This content of change can be seen from four different perspectives, which include the perspectives of technological impact, compartmentalized adaptation, systemic change, and wholistic co-evolution. The perspectives vary in their contextual scope and are centered on the processes of change within the organization, but share the common characteristic of associating organizational change with the nature of digital technologies, in particular their omnipresence and the dynamics that they induce. When linking our findings with established knowledge on organizational change, the diagnosis is that DT can be better understood as continuous change that can be triggered and molded by episodic upheavals, whereas organizational change induces additional continuous changes.

Finally, the emergent trends within the disciplines of finance and accounting continue to be on the topic of Fintech. First, information technology is still essential to uphold the future development of Fintech, because the additional improvement of algorithms will promote the development of information technology. Second, AI is a critical point of research and, therefore, future research will explicitly emphasize the impact of intelligent products on AI technology in the finance industry. It is acknowledged in the methodology that a complete range of potential clients use robot-consultants and that personal and sociodemographic variables could modulate primary relations (Belanche et al. 2019 ). Third, digital currency, government, finances, science and technology could be the focus of future investigations (Joao 2018 ; Rodriguez Bolivar and Scholl 2019). In fourth place, information technology has its unique development process in different financial fields, which will have a disruptive impact on the financial markets (Hua et al. 2019 ). Finally, the dynamic mechanism and the social impact of Fintech in the future will continue to be the principal direction of research.

Managerial implications

In this study, some managerial implications have been identified in the field of marketing such as the improvement of the customer experience and the ease of customer relations through immersive technologies such as VR and AR, and interactive technologies such as (AI). In the case of customer experience, although firms can rely on cognitive technologies to improve client experience in the systems of electronic commerce (Krsteva 2016 ), more research is needed to understand how consumer experiences can be improved when they use technological applications both in shops (Jäger and Weber 2020 , van Esch et al. 2021 ) and in cash machines (Cui et al. 2021 ), and why immersive technologies within retail commerce are still insufficient (Parekh et al. 2020 ). Firms should also take into account the experiences of virtual consumers in multiple environments, as well as retail sales and social networks. Continuing with the analysis of the consumer, defining patterns of transcultural consumption (Alsaleh et al. 2019 ) is an interesting topic for firms because digitalization is global and digital firms can sell and deliver goods beyond geographical frontiers.

Firms must continue to make progress in facilitating relationships with their customers through AI as social media are turned into the most influential channel of digital marketing. Firms could therefore use a model trained for (1) social-media data analysis and visualization in real time for their interpretation; and (2) for studying and visualizing the paths that may lead to a more committed audience (Capatina et al. 2020 ); and, consequently, to help digital agencies to achieve greater leverage for marketing on social media.

Social networks continue their significant growth, and firms must continue to pay attention to eWOM (Bu et al. 2021 ; Park et al. 2021 ), consumer engagement (de Oliveira Santini et al. 2020 ; García-de-Frutos and Estrella Ramón 2021), and branding (Dabbous and Barakat 2020 ; McClure and Seock 2020 ; Schivinski et al. 2021 ), without forgetting source credibility. Firms have to analyze the impact of social media influencers and the influence of celebrities on their branding activities (Sokolova and Kefi 2020 ).

In the field of management, the managerial implications are focused on processes of change driven by the growing diffusion of AI, robotics and the Internet, and their effect on organizational design (Korte et al. 2021 ). The implication of Industry 4.0 technologies for business innovation is turning out to be an interesting topic for firms. Specifically, robotics and additive manufacturing can optimize the innovation of ecological processes (Liu and De Diovanni 2019); the analysis of big data can drive supply chain innovations (Hopkins 2021 ); and the technologies of Industry 4.0 can catalyze the innovation of the business model for servitization (Frank et al. 2019 ) and the circular economy (Awan et al. 2021 ).

This organizational change arising in particular from DT requires the adoption of three important leadership skills within the firm: awareness of DT, acceleration of DT, and harmonization of DT. Each skill involves specific leadership attributes and capabilities and firms that are certain that they have the three leadership skills within their organization are better prepared to master the challenges of DT.

First, managers need not only to observe and to react to changes, but they also need to be aware of the varied quantity of data, and the emergent digital technologies, as well as their properties. Managers must understand that these elements are rapidly evolving and must take into account that they are interlinked with aspects related to the respective characteristics of the market, the consumer, and the country. Managers must use data analysis in a proactive manner as a management tool, in order to take this complexity into account in their evaluations of the conditions of the business environment.

Second, managers require management skills to accelerate DT in the execution of the strategy relating to innovation mechanisms within a multi-dimensional framework. These skills refer to the intellectual capability to conceive processes and novel digital products as a function of internal and external resources, as well as the willingness to invest managerial attention and financial resources during times of episodic upheavals. Above all, it is important to understand that rapid execution and experimentation to learn in the market are superior to ex ante planning and analysis, due to the dynamic nature of the ecosystems of digital businesses, the transience of competitive advantages and positioning.

Third, managers require skills of harmonization with DT with respect to the processes of organizational change. These processes are once again related with the mechanisms within the multi-dimensional framework, but with an approach on integration. The skills of harmonization with DT include managerial skills, so that new products and digital processes can be integrated within the existing organization. It covers the union and communication between ‘physical’ and ‘digital’ units, comprising areas of synergies and areas of friction, reconciling differences, and lending attention to cultural aspects through balance and combination. The managers need to focus their attention here, in other words, to decide what to maintain and what to change in the course of DT, which depends on general opportunities and risks, as well as on each specific industry, and the nature of the changes that may be taking place.

Finally, the managerial implications in the field of finance, are focused on the Fintech sector. The rapid development of technology has had a disruptive impact on traditional financing, not only creating new opportunities for business (crowdfunding, crowdlending, digital money), but also generating a large number of uncontrollable financial risks (Bromberg et al. 2017 ; Duca 2000 ): abuse of personal data, which has been turned into one of the main concerns of both consumers and regulators (Jagtiani and John 2018 ); information asymmetries, and even possible systemic risks have appeared in the process of technology-driven financial innovation (Yang and Li 2018 ). Bermann et al. (2021) showed that external technological funding (for example, indexed funds and exchange-traded funds) improved the competitiveness of small firms and stimulated the business spirit, by reducing the complexity and the costs of financial services. In the risk financing market, financial innovation firms must reach a size and a set quantity to influence the Fintech entrepreneurial spirit in a positive manner (Kolokas et al. 2020 ).

The new business models of financial services are focused on client needs more than anything else, offering the possibility of instantaneous digital transactions and obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. But the advent of innovative technologies has also created operational challenges for emergent firms, designing operational strategies within the financial service from the viewpoint of the client (Choi 2021 ). For example, a new hybrid multiple-standards decision-making approach has been proposed to evaluate the innovation of services, with new commercial partners as the maximum priority (Zhao et al. 2019 ).

Directions for future research

This systematic review of the literature on digitalization in three mature areas of the firm: marketing, management, and finance and accounting provides future lines of research.

In the field of marketing, the first topic that is shown is related with immersive technologies such as (AR), (VR), and interactive technologies such as AI. The capability of immersive technologies to improve upon the efficiency and the effectiveness of the client experience requires more detailed examination. To do so, the results of immersive technologies need to be investigated in the context of value creation for the client. The impact of technology to facilitate client relations is another frontier of investigation that can be explored. Specifically, IA is a technology quite new in comparison with others such as AR and VR, which means that analyzing the impact of IA on digital consumer behavior patterns is a very broad area of study. The fusion of AI and marketing will certainly grow (Pitt et al. 2018 ; Wirth 2018 ; Vishnoi and Bagga 2019 ) in such a way that investigating the consumer journey facilitated by AI technology can help academia to obtain information on the benefits of IA technology. Some other topics for research that researchers have identified in this field are as follows: to use smart algorithms for in-depth study of automated marketing concepts (Dumitriu and Popescu 2020 ) and to observe how multichannel AI systems can help to create a lean or a more intelligent technology (Cosmin Tănase 2018 ).

Future research must seek a more multicultural approach to define the specific differences of each country in terms of the use of online channels, the adoption of technology, and the commitment of digital channels to completely understand digital consumption.

Environmental problems, greater awareness of them among people and the recent COVID-19 health crisis has awakened interest in such topics as sustainability, wellbeing, and value creation. They especially highlighted the studies within the frame of sustainable consumption that concerned their work, principally with collaborative consumption in a digital context, and online rental activities (Lee and Chow 2020 ; Lee and Huang 2020 ; Luo et al. 2020 ).

The possible future of social media according to marketing-related questions and its impact on the individual, the firm and public policies is another area for future research that will be addressed in coming years. Finally, another subject that is closely associated with social media studies is source credibility. Specifically, the investigation will be centered on analyzing the impact of social media influencers and the impact of celebrities on firm branding activities (Sokolova and Kefi 2020 ).

In the field of management and managerial skills, continued research on DT is necessary through the perspective of systemic changes, holistic co-evaluation, and compartmentalized adaptation to advance towards the development of awareness, acceleration, and harmonization of DT, respectively. Also, more research on all those aspects of intra-organizational integration and innovation as drivers of malleable organizational designs is still needed. For example, when describing strategies and steps on how organizations can guide their efforts to achieve DT, it is also proposed that future investigations on DT be approached through a complementary ethical perspective focused on three aspects: the balance between organizational effort, ethics, and value co-creation. Finally, a whole research gap is opened on the implications of Industry 4.0 technologies in business innovation (Oztemet and Gursev 2020 ).

In finance, the topics that have been identified for research in this study contribute to various currents of thought in the literature, including the emergent literature on Fintech, and the literature on entrepreneurship, innovation, and international business. In the first place, the field of Fintech entrepreneurship is an emergent area that is fundamental to promote entrepreneurship and the production of innovative technologies (Álvarez et al. 2016). Specifically, external factors can influence the distribution of the quality of entrepreneurship when the entry of low-quality firms is reduced (Khanin et al. 2022 ; Ritala et al. 2021 ). Studies have compared the differences between reward crowdfunding and capital crowdfunding in the development of Fintech, which can help to comprehend the workings of the entrepreneurial spirit better (Troise et al. 2021 ). In addition, Fintech as a strategy in the digital age, is presented as an interesting research topic, since it is having an impact on cross-border commerce, causing changes in the nature of organizations and in-service businesses (for example, commercial contracts and currency trading). Finally, the business model of digital money is another of the focuses of future research (Joao 2018 ; Rodriguez Bolivar and Scholl 2019), since mobile payments have almost pervaded the daily life of many people, with wide coverage, and innovative payment methods that show constant vitality (Sun et al. 2022 ).

In summary, the challenges that the digitalization of firms, institutions and society in general presents in this day and age are cybersecurity and user privacy (Wylde et al. 2022 ). Specifically, maintaining a balance between the anonymity of users and the traceability of the transaction (Fujitani et al. 2021 ); guaranteeing security and privacy of financial data in the face of a tendency towards open banking (Liao et al. 2022 ), financial scamming, and hacking (Zhao 2021 ). In the case of SMEs, what remains for them to do is to employ the technology as a means of transformation to confront a competitive, complex, and uncertain business environment (Rozmi et al. 2021 ) All these challenges are presented as incipient lines of investigation, together with others such as the processing of information obtained with different technologies from firms and their rapid response to market fluctuations (Li et al. 2021 ). The way in which automatic learning algorithms function and the extent to which they can affect organizational decisions and actions, being at the root of tactical and strategic errors, also remain to be studied in depth.

Conclusions and limitations

Over the past decade and above all, as from 2020, an increase in the number of publications on digitalization, digital technologies, and DT have been seen. Although this paper is centered on the more mature areas of the firm, the literature is limited. In this paper, a detailed analysis of current achievements in investigation of digitalization has been performed, taking into account the most relevant publications. A systematic review has been conducted of the literature based on the sample of 119 high-quality peer-reviewed review articles in the fields of management, marketing, and finance and accounting.

In the discipline of marketing, five principal research tendencies have been identified in current investigations: (1) the performance of digital marketing from the perspective of the consumer centered on its adoption and engagement; (2) the management of social networks as a marketing strategy; (3) knowledge of consumer behavior through big-date technology; (4) the impact of mass-media campaigns through digital technologies; and (5) the customer journey via online outlets.

In the case of management, three principal tendencies have been highlighted in this study: (1) information management and performance, so that it is converted into knowledge for organizations; (2) the design of flexible organizations to adapt themselves to their business environment; (3) the impact of Internet technologies and digitalization on logistics and supply channel management.

Finally, in the discipline of finances and accounting, a tendency may be highlighted for each discipline. In finances, the principal research tendency is to continue inquiring into technologies such as blockchain applied to financial services, whereas in accounting the impact of cryptocurrency may be highlighted in accounting systems and risk management.

As a final conclusion, this paper may be considered to have: (1) provided the most complete and updated review of digitalization from a global perspective, summarizing the current state of knowledge within an integrated framework; (2) reduced the complexity of digitalization by offering structure and clarity; and (3) advanced links between digitalization and established points of view in the literature on management, marketing, and finance and accounting.

Our study has some limitations that can be identified in the steps of our research process. First, given that our study used a particular database, some articles may have been overlooked in the data-compilation process. Second, the filters applied in the data-analysis process might have omitted some relevant studies, due to our choices of cut-off decisions (for example, with respect to the time frames). In addition, the process of encoding the articles was manual and might therefore have been affected by subjectivity, although we sought to avoid that bias by performing multiple encoding routines and various rounds of checking the encoding. Third, with respect to the summarization, it is accepted that there might be valuable alternatives to an ‘entry-process-exit’ model (Edmondson and Mcmanus 2007 ) as a meta-structure. In the light of these limitations, we encourage other researchers to enlarge and to improve upon our findings, employing different sources and analytical approaches.

Appendix 1: Corpus of review articles analyzed in the study.

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Esther Calderon-Monge, Email: se.ubu@noredlace .

Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano, Email: [email protected] .

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• Published: 15 May 2024

Supply chain transformational leadership and resilience: the mediating role of ambidextrous business model

• Taiwen Feng 1   na1 ,
• Zhihui Si 1   na1 ,
• Wenbo Jiang 2 &
• Jianyu Tan 3  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  628 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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The global prevalence of COVID-19 has caused many supply chain disruptions, which calls for firms to build resilient supply chains. Prior research primarily examined the effects of firm resources or capabilities on supply chain resilience (SCR), with limited attention given to the critical role of supply chain transformational leadership (SCTL). Based on social learning theory, we explore how SCTL impacts SCR via an ambidextrous business model and the moderating role of paradox cognition. We employ hierarchical regression analysis to verify the hypotheses with data from 317 Chinese firms. The results show that SCTL has a positive impact on proactive and reactive SCR, and the ambidextrous business model mediates this relationship. Furthermore, paradox cognition strengthens the effect of SCTL on the ambidextrous business model. This study contributes to literature and practices in the field of transformational leadership and SCR by providing unique insights into how to improve SCR from a leadership perspective.

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Introduction.

Affected by the global prevalence of COVID-19, frequent supply chain disruptions have occurred (Nikolopoulos et al., 2021 ; Jiang et al., 2023 ; Shen and Sun, 2023 ). Since supply chains are increasingly complex, firms are more likely to suffer from supply chain disruptions (Lechler et al., 2019 ; Spieske and Birkel, 2021 ; Xi et al., 2024 ). It will be difficult for a firm lacking resilient supply chains to survive and compete within a dynamic and uncertain condition. Supply chain resilience (SCR) reflects the capability of a system to maintain desirable functions before/during disruptions and/or timely recover to its normal functions after disruptive events (Gu et al., 2021 ). Understanding the enablers of SCR would help the firm better respond to potential risks caused by supply chain disruptions (Vanpoucke and Ellis, 2020 ).

Firm leaders could play critical roles in reducing disruption risk in supply chains and building a more resilient supply chain (Khunwishit et al., 2018 ). However, little research has checked the effect of transformational leadership within the supply chain context. We define supply chain transformational leadership (SCTL) as a continual influence that the focal firm demonstrates modeling values and reformative behaviors, which motivates its supply chain partners to act similarly with inspiration and close relationships.

While previous studies mainly focused on the roles of specific resources or capabilities on SCR, such as agility, redundancy, and collaboration (Al Naimi et al., 2021 ; Tukamuhabwa et al., 2015 ), the strategic role of SCTL has largely been ignored. Previous studies suggest that transformational leadership encourages employees’ reaction to changes in a firm (Peng et al., 2021 ) and increases team resilience (Dimas et al., 2018 ). Hence, high levels of SCTL could operate as role-modeling behaviors for the focal firm’s partners and foster a more resilient supply chain. According to social learning theory (Bandura, 1977 ; Brown et al., 2005 ), the focal firm with high levels of SCTL acts as a reliable role model whom its followers trust and attempt to emulate. That is to say, supply chain partners can learn transformative behaviors by observing the focal firm. As a result, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL acts as a benchmark for its supply chain followers to build a resilient supply chain. Therefore, we propose that SCTL may strengthen SCR.

Firms throughout supply chains often face conflicting objectives while implementing organizational learning to improve SCR (Lee and Rha, 2016 ). That is, they must balance different types of learning strategies, such as exploring potential opportunities to transform supply chains while also exploiting current resources to optimize supply chains. The tension of balancing exploitation and exploration is termed organizational ambidexterity (Kristal et al., 2010 ). According to an ambidexterity perspective (Aslam et al., 2022 ; Eng et al., 2023 ), the focal firm with high levels of SCTL prefers to deal with supply chain disruptions through both exploring external opportunities and exploiting internal resources. However, little is known about how SCTL affects SCR via organizational ambidexterity.

Our research devotes to filling this research gap through clarifying the mediating effect of an ambidextrous business model that encompasses both novelty and efficiency within the SCTL–SCR link. We define an ambidextrous business model as a firm’s boundary-spanning transaction mode developed to create and capture value by both balancing activities of redesigning a novel business model and reorganizing elements of an existing one. Specifically, a novelty-centered business model could help firms explore a new value proposition to meet changing demands in disruptions, whereas an efficiency-centered business model improves inter-organizational transaction efficiency by facilitating supply chain visibility and reducing transaction cost (Wei et al., 2017 ; Zott and Amit, 2008 ). Drawing on social learning theory (Ojha et al., 2018 ), the focal firm with high levels of SCTL may demonstratively build an ambidextrous business model by fostering a supportive organizational context. Then, the ambidextrous business model in the focal firm motivates other supply chain partners to emulate and actively take a similar business model, improving SCR through shared supply chain ambidexterity. In this manner, an ambidextrous business model may mediate the SCTL–SCR relationship.

Furthermore, the focal firm with paradoxical thinking and cognition could also influence its learning strategies (Brusoni and Rosenkranz, 2014 ). That is, paradoxical thinking and cognition would affect the focal firm’s attitude and identification towards tensions (explore or exploit) arising from its contrasting strategic agendas (Smith and Lewis, 2011 ). When the focal firm possesses high levels of paradox cognition, it is more likely to recognize and embrace tensions, making well-balanced strategic decisions through developing transformational leadership. Hence, we propose that paradox cognition enhances the impact of SCTL on an ambidextrous business model.

In sum, this study explores three questions to uncover the impact of SCTL on SCR. First, whether SCTL is positively related to SCR? Second, does ambidextrous business model mediate the SCTL–SCR relationship? Third, does paradox cognition strengthen the role of SCTL on ambidextrous business model? By answering the above questions, this study makes a contribution to research and practices in the field of transformational leadership and SCR.

Literature review and hypotheses development

Supply chain resilience.

Resilience, a multidisciplinary construct originating from engineering, ecology, and psychology (Holling, 1973 ; Novak et al., 2021 ). Although most scholars have viewed resilience as an ability to resist and/or rebound from disruptive events (El Baz and Ruel, 2021 ; Namdar et al., 2018 ), there still lacks a normative definition widely accepted. Later, resilience is extended and applied to the field of social sciences, such as supply chain management and operational management. Due to the prevalence of COVID-19, resilience is particularly valued in global supply chains as supply chains become increasingly complex (Spieske and Birkel, 2021 ).

The major divergences of SCR concentrate on two aspects: influencing scope and attributive level. With regard to the influencing scope, some authors only treat SCR as a reactive capability (Brandon-Jones et al., 2014 ; El Baz and Ruel, 2021 ), while others propose that both reactive and proactive components are indispensable (Gu et al., 2021 ). With regard to the attributive level, SCR is often viewed as a firm’s capability (Ambulkar et al., 2015 ); however, it is more acceptable to belong to a whole supply chain system (Scholten et al., 2020 ). Hence, we define SCR as the capability of a system to maintain its expected functions before disruptions and timely recover to its normal functions during facing interruptions.

SCR has been segmented into various dimensions corresponding to different nodes, disruptive phases, or sub-capabilities. For example, Pournader et al. ( 2016 ) argue that SCR could be divided by the organizational boundary into supplier, internal, and customer resilience. Han et al. ( 2020 ) suggest that SCR could be classified into stages of readiness, response, and recovery. Jüttner and Maklan ( 2011 ) propose that flexibility, velocity, visibility, and collaboration are essential sub-capabilities comprising SCR. Following Cheng and Lu’s study ( 2017 ), we divide SCR into two dimensions: proactive and reactive SCR. Proactive SCR is the capability of a supply chain system to mitigate shocks and keep its normal state before/during possible disruptions. Reactive SCR means the capability of a supply chain system to quickly respond and return to its normal state after experiencing disruptions.

Although previous research has revealed diverse factors in formulating SCR (Razak et al., 2023 ; Scholten and Schilder, 2015 ), transformational leadership is rarely discussed. Prior studies mainly examine the roles of four groups of resources and capabilities in building SCR, including reengineering, collaboration, agility, and risk management culture (Belhadi et al., 2022 ). First, supply chain reengineering is positively related to SCR. Resources and capabilities, such as network structure, security, redundancy, efficiency, innovation, contingency planning, and market position, usually contribute to the realignment of structures and processes within supply chains (Han et al., 2020 ; Tukamuhabwa et al., 2017 ), which could help firms deal with new changes. Second, supply chain collaboration is valuable to build SCR. By developing information sharing, risk and revenue sharing, trust, communication, coordination, and integration, the cooperation among different supply chain partners becomes mutually high-quality (Ali et al., 2017 ; Dubey et al., 2021 ; Zhu et al., 2024 ). Third, supply chain agility facilitates the construction of SCR. Flexibility, velocity, visibility, ambidexterity, market sensitiveness, and disruption mitigation (El Baz and Ruel, 2021 ; Gu et al., 2021 ; Jain et al., 2017 ; Kochan and Nowicki, 2018 ) can increase the responsiveness of a supply chain system when facing dynamic business environment. Fourth, supply chain risk management culture, which involves risk awareness, knowledge management, and training and development of a risk management team, can create a proper culture atmosphere in favor of SCR (Belhadi et al., 2022 ).

Beyond four fostering factors, some research has also identified the interactive effects of mixed resources or capabilities on SCR, like industry 4.0 technologies, social capital, leadership, and business model (Belhadi et al., 2024 ; Gölgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020 ; Shashi et al., 2020 ; Shin and Park, 2021 ). However, we still lack knowledge about the strategic role of transformational leadership in fostering SCR. Antecedents of SCR in existing literature are shown in Table 1 .

Supply chain transformational leadership and supply chain resilience

Transformational leadership refers to leaders’ suitable behaviors that drive their followers’ reformative behaviors through continuous motivation and partnership (Bass, 1985 , 1999 ). Existing literature demonstrates that transformational leadership could affect employee attitude (Peng et al., 2021 ) and team resilience in a firm (Dimas et al., 2018 ), while the strategic role of transformational leadership across an entire supply chain system needs more explanation. According to social learning theory (Brown et al., 2005 ), we regard the focal firm with high levels of SCTL as a credible role model whom other supply chain partners respect, trust, and emulate. In this manner, other supply chain partners are likely to learn transformative behaviors by observing the focal firm.

We view the development of SCTL as a role modeling-learning process. That is, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL has an exemplary influence on other supply chain partners via observing and learning from benchmarks. Specifically, SCTL includes three elements: inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Defee et al., 2010 ). Inspiration implies that the focal firm with high levels of SCTL often articulates a compelling vision about a desirable future for the supply chain system. The focal firm, with intellectual stimulation, tends to stimulate other supply chain partners to solve issues by adopting creative and innovative methods. Individualized consideration helps the focal firm understand differentiated demands of supply chain followers, and assists them respectively. Based on social learning theory (Bommer et al., 2005 ), the focal firm’s transformative behaviors benefit its followers by the conveyance of competence. Before/during disruptive events, the focal firm clarifies a reliable vision and motivates followers to observe what it does to improve firm resilience. Targeted support makes it easier for other supply chain partners to master and emulate the focal firm’s resilient actions. In addition, coordination and trust among firms are developed in the social learning process (Mostafa, 2019 ), constructing closer supply chain relationships. Therefore, SCTL could enhance the proactive dimension of SCR.

The focal firm with high levels of SCTL would not only strengthen the proactive dimension of SCR, but also contribute to the reactive dimension of SCR. Drawing on social learning theory (Bommer et al., 2005 ), the focal firm’s transformative behaviors increase the self-efficacy of other supply chain partners. After supply chain disruptions, the focal firm demonstrates its response and encourages followers to achieve quick recovery through their differentially new insights. Besides, as firms in the supply chain are closely connected, all members’ resilient actions would transform into SCR when there are common goals and effective interactions (Gölgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020 ). In this manner, SCTL contributes to the reactive aspect of SCR. Hence, we hypothesize:

H1: SCTL has a positive influence on (a) proactive dimension and (b) reactive dimension of SCR.

Supply chain transformational leadership and ambidextrous business model

Ambidexterity is a special dynamic ability balancing exploration and exploitation simultaneously (Kristal et al., 2010 ; Lee and Rha, 2016 ). Previous literature has identified that different leadership styles, such as transformational leadership, could foster ambidexterity in firms (Jansen et al., 2008 ; Tarba et al., 2020 ). Ambidextrous business model means a firm’s boundary-spanning transaction mode developed to create and catch business value by balancing activities of redesigning novel governance, content, and structure and reorganizing elements of an existing business model. Miller ( 1996 ) identifies that novelty and efficiency are classic themes of designing business models. Specifically, a novelty-centered business model aims to create value and catch potential opportunities by redesigning a new business model, while an efficiency-centered business model devotes to increasing efficiency and decreasing operational cost by reconstructing the current business model (Feng et al., 2022 ; Wei et al., 2017 ; Zott and Amit, 2008 ). Under the context of plurality, change, and scarcity, leaders in firms have more intentions to make decisions from an ambidexterity perspective (Smith and Lewis, 2011 ). According to social learning theory (Wang and Feng, 2023 ), leaders in the focal firm with high levels of SCTL tend to express a committed attitude and take exemplary actions to maintain balancing operations. In other words, employees would be guided to conduct certain transformative behaviors, raising a flexible organizational culture with their leaders’ values.

SCTL, which is viewed as a role model-building process, includes three components: inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Defee et al., 2010 ). First, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL often articulates a compelling vision and sets high-quality standards. Inspiration by the focal firm’s leaders shows necessary confidence in their subordinates’ abilities and encourages employees to recognize the importance of individual effort in creating and capturing value through exploring and exploiting business opportunities. Additionally, the focal firm’s leaders promote collective goal-setting and collaboration among employees based on a shared vision, creating a supportive organizational context characterized by discipline, stretch, and trust (Ojha et al., 2018 ; Xi et al., 2023 ). Second, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL pays much attention to meeting emerging challenges. Intellectual stimulation by the focal firm’s leaders demonstrates transformative ideas and stimulates their employees to provide new insights under a challenging but supportive atmosphere, increasing organizational creativity and contributing to a stretch context (Elkins and Keller, 2003 ). Third, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL actively understands and helps its internal members. Individualized consideration by the focal firm’s leaders offers differentiated support via one-to-one knowledge exchange and creates a heartwarming condition that promotes more assistance among employees, fostering a culture of support and trust (Bommer et al., 2005 ). While a supportive organizational context is developed (Pan et al., 2021 ), a firm with high levels of SCTL prefers to design an ambidextrous business model. Thus, we hypothesize:

H2: SCTL has a positive influence on an ambidextrous business model.

Ambidextrous business model and supply chain resilience

The development of an ambidextrous business model could be recognized as a role model-engaging process. According to social learning theory (Wang and Feng, 2023 ), the focal firm with high levels of ambidextrous business model would serve as an example that provides a flexible business model for its followers. Then, supply chain followers are likely to trust and attempt to emulate the focal firm’s business model when sensing or experiencing frequent supply chain disruptions.

In detail, the focal firm with a high level of ambidextrous business model shows its supply chain partners how to maintain agility before/during disruptions through a proper organization arrangement. A novelty-centered business model could help other firms realize that they must create and capture value through designing new activities of governance, content, and structure to predict/respond to changing environments before/during disruptions. An efficiency-centered business model guides followers to continuously change the current supply chain into a more robust system (Wei et al., 2017 ; Zott and Amit, 2008 ). Besides, when all firms with high levels of ambidextrous business models tend to balance novelty and efficiency simultaneously, they would contribute to a more robust supply chain by preventive supply chain ambidexterity. Therefore, the ambidextrous business model enhances the proactive dimension of SCR.

The focal firm with high levels of the ambidextrous business model provides other supply chain members a valuable frame to quickly react after disruptions as well. Specifically, a novelty-centered business model stimulates other firms to adopt new ideas and norms in solving issues after disruptive events, improving their adaptability and responsiveness. An efficiency-centered business model helps followers achieve greater transaction efficiency and lower transaction costs, facilitating the adjustment of actions and strategies to rapidly respond to disruptions. In addition, firms with high levels of ambidextrous business models jointly balance novelty and efficiency, establishing a more resilient supply chain through responsive supply chain ambidexterity. SCTL contributes to the reactive dimension of SCR. Hence, we hypothesize:

H3: Ambidextrous business model has a positive influence on (a) proactive dimension and (b) reactive dimension of SCR.

In sum, the ambidextrous business model serves as a proper mediator within the role modeling-learning process. Drawing on social learning theory, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL demonstrates an ambidextrous business model through fostering a supportive organizational context. And then other supply chain partners would actively learn and emulate the focal firm’s typical business model based on their trust and common values, improving SCR by supply chain ambidexterity. An ambidextrous business model could transform SCTL into proactive and reactive dimensions of SCR. Thus, we hypothesize:

H4: Ambidextrous business model mediates the relationship between SCTL and (a) proactive dimension and (b) reactive dimension of SCR.

The moderating role of paradox cognition

Paradox cognition refers to an epistemic framework and process recognizing and juxtaposing contradictory demands, which could make latent tensions within organizations more explicit (Smith and Tushman, 2005 ). The focal firm with paradoxical thinking and cognition could influence learning strategies (Brusoni and Rosenkranz, 2014 ; Sheng et al., 2023 ). That is, paradox cognition may affect the focal firm’s attitude and identification towards tensions (explore or exploit) arising from its contrasting strategic agendas (Smith and Lewis, 2011 ). Based on social learning theory (Bandura, 1977 ), when the focal firm possesses high levels of paradox cognition, it is more likely to recognize the importance of ambidexterity. In this manner, leaders’ transformative behaviors in the focal firm with high levels of SCTL would be more easily accepted and emulated by employees to balance both explorative and exploitive learning activities (Han et al., 2022 ), which may help build an ambidextrous business model. By contrast, when the focal firm has low levels of paradox cognition, it tends to choose either novelty or efficiency in designing a business model. The SCTL-ambidextrous business model relationship becomes less important because contradictions in the focal firm are latent. Hence, we hypothesize:

H5: Paradox cognition enhances the impact of SCTL on an ambidextrous business model.

Combining the hypotheses above, we build a conceptual model to check the influence of SCTL on SCR (including proactive and reactive SCR), the mediating role of the ambidextrous business model within the SCTL–SCR relationship, and the moderating effect of paradox cognition. The conceptual model is illustrated in Fig. 1 .

This figure represents the hypothetical relationships among constructs.

Research design

Procedures and data collection.

We gathered data from Chinese manufacturers. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing firms in China suffered from many supply chain disruptions, prompting leaders to realize the necessity of keeping a resilient supply chain (Lin et al., 2021 ; Shen and Sun, 2023 ). It is a challenging objective for manufacturing firms in China as they account for a large share of total exports in the global supply chains. Thus, China provided an appropriate context to explore the antecedents of SCR.

Due to the regional imbalanced characteristic of the Chinese economic force and transportation network (Feng et al., 2019 ; Hosseini et al., 2019 ), we selected sampling firms in five typical provinces: Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Inner Mongolia. Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong, in the eastern coastal areas of China, had relatively high levels of economic force and transportation networks. Henan, in the middle area of China, had average levels of economic force and transportation network. By contrast, Inner Mongolia, in the north and west of China, had relatively low levels of economic force and transportation network.

We adopted three steps to design a questionnaire. First, 12 firm executives, including the chief executive officer, general manager, or vice president, were interviewed to confirm the content validity of our study issue. All these individuals were required to be knowledgeable about their firms’ internal operations as well as external partnerships. Second, an initial questionnaire was developed through literature and expert review, translation, and back-translation. Third, a pre-test with another 20 executives was conducted to provide useful suggestions for modification, forming the formal questionnaire.

We randomly chose 200 firms in each province above and sought cooperation via a cover letter introducing the research intention. All participants were ensured confidentiality. Invitations were sent through emails or telephones, and 435 firms agreed to join our survey total. To mitigate common method bias (CMB), we split each questionnaire into two parts (including parts A and B) and invited different respondents in each firm to complete one part respectively. Part A featured demographic characteristics, competitive intensity, SCTL, novelty-centered business model, and SCR, whereas part B included paradox cognition and efficiency-centered business model.

We distributed and received back the questionnaires through emails from May 2020 to December 2020. 317 valid questionnaires were gathered, with an effective response rate of 72.9%. The final sample included 72 firms in Guangdong, 62 firms in Jiangsu, 67 firms in Shandong, 56 firms in Henan, and 60 firms in Inner Mongolia. The average working experience of 634 respondents was 7.19 years. 64.8% of our respondents held the posts of chief executive officer, general manager, or vice president, and 35.2% were operations directors. The detailed features of sampled firms are presented in Table 2 .

We utilized two steps to verify non-response bias (Armstrong and Overton, 1977 ). First, firm size and ownership were compared for the nonresponding and responding firms. Second, differences in firm size, firm age, industry, and ownership between the early and late responses were also examined. These results of the independent t -test suggested that non-response bias in this study was not a serious issue.

We selected the seven-point Likert scale adopted or adapted from previous studies to measure all constructs in the questionnaire (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).

Supply chain transformational leadership

A refined seven-item scale from Defee et al. ( 2010 ) was applied to measure SCTL. SCTL was operationalized as respondents’ perceptions of their firms’ influences, which are often the outcome of behavioral factors, including inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.

Paradox cognition

A seven-item scale from Smith and Lewis ( 2011 ) was used to measure paradox cognition. Respondents were requested to evaluate the degree of their own firms’ dual awareness when making strategic decisions in the last three years.

Ambidextrous business model

A ten-item scale and a nine-item scale were adjusted by Zott and Amit ( 2007 ) to measure the novelty-centered business model and efficiency-centered business model in turn. Additionally, the average value of these two variables was calculated to measure the ambidextrous business model. This approach not only kept convenience to reserve and made logical interpretations for the useful information from both parts but reflected the nature of ambidexterity–seemingly contradictory yet coexisting tensions (Lubatkin et al., 2006 ; Zhang et al., 2015 ).

Following Cheng and Lu ( 2017 ), SCR was divided into two dimensions: proactive and reactive SCR Two altered four-item scales were adopted for proactive and reactive SCR separately (Ambulkar et al., 2015 ; Brandon-Jones et al., 2014 ; Wieland and Wallenburg, 2013 ).

Control variables

To mitigate the roles of other factors on analytical results as much as possible, we controlled five demographic characteristics, including firm size, firm age, industry, ownership, and competitive intensity (Ambulkar et al., 2015 ; Gölgeci and Ponomarov, 2015 ). Firm age and firm size were measured by the natural logarithm of the number of years since foundation and the natural logarithm of the number of employees, respectively (Li et al., 2008 ). One dummy variable was to control industry (1 = high-tech firm, 0 = otherwise), and two dummy variables (including state-owned and collective firms and private firms) were to control ownership. A four-item scale was adjusted by Jaworski and Kohli ( 1993 ) to measure competitive intensity.

Reliability and validity

First, we did a reliability test and explorative factor analysis (EFA). All constructs revealed high reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha value of more than 0.7 (Flynn et al., 1990 ). Seven principal components were extracted, which was consistent with constructs in the scales (Table 3 ). Second, we made a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by AMOS 24.0 to ensure validity. The results indicated that the measurement model had good fit indices: χ ²/d f  = 2.034; RMSEA = 0.057; CFI = 0.928; NNFI = 0.923; SRMR = 0.038. All constructs’ composite reliability (CR) was more than 0.7, with item loadings varying from 0.760 to 0.939, and all average variance extracted (AVE) values were more than 0.5 (Table 3 ). Thus, the results indicated sufficient convergent validity. Besides, the comparison between shared variances of constructs and the square root of AVE demonstrated that all correlations were less than the corresponding square roots of AVEs (Table 4 ), identifying acceptable discriminant validity. Tables 3 and 4 reported the measure items, reliability, and validity assessment.

Common method bias

We utilized three means to test CMB. First, Harman’s single-factor test was conducted, revealing that there were seven principal components (Table 3 ), and no single factor accounted for most variances in these measures. Second, the fit indices of CFA between the actual seven-factor model and the one-factor model were compared, indicating that the one-factor model got significantly worse fit indices. Third, another common method factor was supplemented to the seven-factor CFA model above and it discovered that the fit indices did not change significantly. As a result, there was no serious CMB.

We adopted hierarchical regression analysis and the bootstrapping method by SPSS 23.0 to examine the research hypotheses. First, the effect of SCTL on SCR was examined. Then, the influence of SCTL on the ambidextrous business model, the effect of the ambidextrous business model on SCR, and the mediating impact of the ambidextrous business model within the SCTL–SCR link were tested. Finally, the moderating effect of paradox cognition in the SCTL–ambidextrous business model relationship was examined. Table 5 reports the results of the hierarchical regression model.

To minimize possible multicollinearity, we generated an interaction with mean-centering of both the independent variable and the moderating variable (Aiken and West, 1991 ). The maximal value of the variance inflation factor (VIF) is 1.739, which is much less than the recommended cut-off of 10. Thus, the multicollinearity is not serious.

H1a and H1b predict the positive impact of SCTL on both dimensions of SCR. Models 5 and 9 in Table 5 show that SCTL has a significantly positive effect on the proactive dimension ( β  = 0.122, p  < 0.05) and reactive dimension ( β  = 0.166, p  < 0.01). Therefore, H1a and H1b are supported.

H2 predicts the positive influence of SCTL on the ambidextrous business model. Model 2 in Table 5 indicates that SCTL has a significantly positive impact on ambidextrous business models ( β  = 0.140, p  < 0.05). Hence, H2 is supported.

H3a and H3b predict the positive role of the ambidextrous business model on both dimensions of SCR. Models 6 and 10 in Table 5 suggest that the ambidextrous business model has a positive effect on the proactive dimension ( β  = 0.241, p  < 0.001) and reactive dimension ( β  = 0.256, p  < 0.001). Therefore, H3a and H3b are supported.

H4a and H4b hypothesize that the ambidextrous business model mediates the relationships between SCTL and two dimensions of SCR. According to Baron and Kenny ( 1986 ), Models 2, 5, and 7 in Table 5 jointly demonstrate that the ambidextrous business model ( β  = 0.228, p  < 0.001) fully mediates the relationship between SCTL ( β  = 0.090, p  > 0.1) and proactive dimension, which supports H4a. Similarly, Models 2, 9, and 11 in Table 5 collectively exhibit that the ambidextrous business model ( β  = 0.237, p  < 0.001) partially mediates the relationship between SCTL ( β  = 0.133, p  < 0.05) and reactive dimension, which supports H4b.

To ensure the robustness of the results, we further used the PROCESS macro to conduct a bootstrapped mediation analysis. As depicted in Table 6 , the results keep consistency with the corresponding results in Table 5 , ensuring the effectiveness of analytical findings before.

H5 hypothesizes that paradox cognition strengthens the impact of SCTL on the ambidextrous business model. Model 3 in Table 5 presents that the interaction of SCTL and paradox cognition is significantly positive ( β  = 0.094, p  < 0.1), which supports H5. Moreover, we applied a simple slope analysis to verify the moderating effect of paradox cognition so that a clearer explanation could be given. As illustrated in Fig. 2 , when levels of paradox cognition are higher, the role of SCTL in the ambidextrous business model becomes stronger. Hence, the result further supports a strengthened effect of paradox cognition in the SCTL–ambidextrous business model relationship.

This figure reflects the moderating effect of paradox cognition on the relationship between supply chain transformational leadership and ambidextrous business model.

Discussions and implications

Discussions.

This study intends to verify the impact of SCTL on both dimensions of SCR (including proactive and reactive SCR) through the ambidextrous business model and the moderating role of paradox cognition. Our results exhibit that SCTL has a positive influence on proactive and reactive SCR. This finding is similar to studies that explore the effect of leader–member exchange on network resilience performance in the supply chain context (Shin and Park, 2021 ) or the effect of transformational supply chain leadership on operational performance (Defee et al., 2010 ). However, these studies only emphasize the necessity of inter-organizational relationships and capabilities within the influential process of supply chain leadership on supply chain performance. Our results show that SCTL contributes to proactive and reactive SCR in a social learning process where both firm resilience and supply chain collaboration are indispensable parts.

Our results demonstrate that an ambidextrous business model mediates the impact of SCTL on SCR. This finding is inconsistent with existing studies about the antecedents or consequences of business models (Schoemaker et al., 2018 ; Shashi et al., 2020 ). One possible explanation is that the ambidextrous business model aims at designing new business models to capture and create value while also reconfiguring new combinations to improve transaction efficiency. Our results also indicate that the ambidextrous business model fully mediates the relationship between SCTL and proactive SCR while partially mediates the relationship between SCTL and reactive SCR. That is, the ambidextrous business model occupies a more important position in the SCTL-proactive dimension link. A possible reason could be that compared with intellectual stimulation, the influence of inspiration and individualized consideration is more dispersive within a longer time, improving the necessity of an ambidextrous business model. These results provide new insights to realize how SCTL enhances SCR.

In addition, we identify that paradox cognition strengthens the effect of SCTL on an ambidextrous business model. When the focal firm has high levels of paradox cognition, it tends to recognize the importance of ambidexterity. In this manner, the focal firm’s transformative behaviors would be more easily accepted and emulated by employees to balance both explorative and exploitive learning activities (Han et al., 2022 ), building an ambidextrous business model. This outcome verifies our research hypothesis, indicating the importance of paradox cognition in the SCTL–ambidextrous business model link.

Theoretical contributions

This study contributes to managerial research in three aspects. First, we enrich the antecedents of SCR by confirming the role of SCTL. Existing studies emphasize the impacts of specific resources or capabilities on SCR, such as agility, redundancy, and collaboration (Al Naimi et al., 2021 ; Tukamuhabwa et al., 2015 ), while the strategic effect of SCTL is rarely discussed. Previous literature has identified that transformational leadership could improve employee attitude (Peng et al., 2021 ) and team resilience (Dimas et al., 2018 ) at the firm level. Our research extends the concept of transformational leadership to the whole supply chain system and proposes that the focal firm with high levels of SCTL can improve proactive and reactive SCR. Hence, we contribute to the field of SCTL and SCR.

Second, we reveal the ‘black box’ of how SCTL impacts SCR by examining the mediating role of the ambidextrous business model. Existing studies reveal the influence of transformational leadership on organizational ambidexterity (Eng et al., 2023 ) and the impact of organizational ambidexterity on SCR (Aslam et al., 2022 ), while we still lack understanding of how SCTL affects SCR. Previous literature has demonstrated that redesigning a supply chain with high levels of concentration plays a significant role in protecting firm performance when suffering from disruptions (Liu et al., 2023 ). Hence, we contribute to the SCTL and SCR literature by showing a partial mediating effect of the ambidextrous business model in the SCTL–proactive SCR relationship and a fully mediating effect of ambidextrous business model in the SCTL–reactive SCR relationship.

Third, we clarify the boundary condition for the SCTL–ambidextrous business model relationship by examining the moderating effect of paradox cognition. Existing studies show that the efficiency of the learning process would be influenced by external stakeholders (Song et al., 2020 ; Wang and Feng, 2023 ), while the interactive role of internal factors is largely ignored. Previous literature has argued that organizational learning may be influenced by paradoxical thinking and cognition (Brusoni and Rosenkranz, 2014 ). Our findings suggest that paradox cognition would affect the focal firm’s attitude and identification towards tensions (explore or exploit) arising from its contrasting strategic agendas. Under high levels of paradox cognition, the focal firm is more likely to recognize and embrace tensions, making well-balanced decisions. Thus, the efficiency of social learning from SCTL to ambidextrous business model improves, which further emphasizes the necessity of developing paradox cognition within the learning process.

Managerial implications

This study offers three suggestions for managerial practice. First, managers should undertake leading roles and encourage member firms within the supply chain to improve SCR. In a dynamic and uncertain context, the focal firm with high levels of SCTL is effective to motivate its supply chain partners’ transformative behaviors. Managers should develop a reliable role model whom their followers trust and attempt to emulate. They should also develop two types of SCR, including proactive and reactive SCR. Additionally, they should articulate a compelling vision for all supply chain members, providing individualized training to meet the differentiated needs of firms and stimulating supply chain partners to create new insights with a supportive and challenging atmosphere.

Second, managers should establish an ambidextrous business model in firms. The focal firm with high levels of SCTL often demonstrates an ambidextrous business model by fostering a supportive organizational context. Managers should design an ambidextrous business model balancing both novelty and efficiency. Furthermore, they are suggested to motivate other supply chain followers to learn and emulate the focal firm’s transformative behaviors through a shared system vision, promoting communication and coordination among supply chain members.

Third, managers should foster a paradox cognition framework within their firms. Under high levels of paradox cognition, the focal firm is more likely to recognize the importance of ambidexterity and solve tensions from an ambidexterity perspective. Transformative behaviors of the focal firm would be more easily accepted and emulated by its employees. Managers should provide a proper organizational context for employees to improve their paradoxical thinking and cognition to quickly respond to disruptions.

Conclusion and limitations

Drawing on social learning theory, this study clarifies the impact of SCTL on SCR. Our findings reveal that SCTL has a positive influence on both proactive and reactive SCR. In addition, the ambidextrous business model fully mediates the relationship between SCTL and proactive SCR while also partially mediating the relationship between SCTL and reactive SCR. Paradox cognition strengthens the effect of SCTL on the ambidextrous business model.

This study has a few limitations, of course. First, we must demonstrate the effect of SCTL on SCR. Future research could try investigating the roles of other factors, such as transactional leadership to enrich antecedents of SCR. Second, this study only explores the mediating role of the ambidextrous business model between SCTL and SCR. In the future, other possible realization paths from the configurational perspective should be verified (Feng and Sheng, 2023 ). Third, we must identify the moderating impact of paradox cognition within the SCTL–ambidextrous business model relationship. Scholars are suggested to discover more possible boundary conditions like dynamic environment, and build a moderated mediation model to further explore the roles of potential moderators.

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed during the current study are included in this article and a supplementary Excel spreadsheet called ‘Dataset’ which contains all items’ values from questionnaires and other control variables’ values.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72172040), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (HIT.HSS.ESD202333), and the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province (tsqn201909154).

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Feng, T., Si, Z., Jiang, W. et al. Supply chain transformational leadership and resilience: the mediating role of ambidextrous business model. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 628 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03099-x

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Multinational Corporations and Social Innovation in Emerging Markets

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• Samuel Adomako 1 ,
• Xiaohui Liu 1 ,
• Riikka M. Sarala 2 ,
• Mujtaba Ahsan 3 ,
• Jeoung Yul Lee 4 &
• Oded Shenkar 5  

The concept of social innovation has garnered increasing attention across various disciplines, driven by a growing recognition of the need to address complex societal challenges. However, despite the thorough examination of traditional innovation forms and their influence on global business practices, the scrutiny of social innovation within the realm of international business (IB) remains relatively nascent. This introduction delineates the scope of this focused issue and emphasizes the critical need to expand research on social innovation within IB, a field dedicated to enhancing social value and engagement among diverse stakeholders. This focused issue explores the catalysts and impacts of multinational corporations' (MNCs’) social innovation endeavours in emerging markets. Departing from the profit-centric focus of conventional innovation studies, social innovation emphasizes the redistribution of knowledge, the encouragement of discovery, and the facilitation of co-creation, thus posing a challenge to the traditional paradigms and logics of innovation theory. This introduction provides a concise review of current social innovation literature in IB, highlights the contributions made by the articles in this focused issue, and concludes by outlining directions for future research in the domain of social innovation in IB.

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1 Introduction

The increasing societal expectations for multinational corporations (MNCs) to reconcile their economic performance with social development have often been underscored in academic literature, public discourse, and policy discussions (OCED, 2023 ; Savitz, 2011 ; Varadarajan, 2014 ; World Economic Forum, 2024 ). In recent years, MNCs have been increasingly leveraging their resources and capabilities to drive social innovation in emerging markets, addressing critical local challenges through the development of novel products and services. Philips, for instance, has introduced portable, low-cost ultrasound devices tailored for healthcare workers in remote areas Footnote 1 such as low- and middle-income countries. This innovation not only bridges the gap in medical imaging accessibility but also facilitates essential prenatal care and diagnostics in underserved rural communities. Similarly, Procter & Gamble has responded to the urgent need for clean drinking water by creating a low-cost, sachet-based water purifier. Footnote 2 This simple yet effective solution empowers individuals in emerging markets to easily purify contaminated water, significantly mitigating the risk of waterborne diseases. Additionally, Safaricom, a subsidiary of Vodafone, has pioneered M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based platform for money transfer and microfinancing. Footnote 3 This service has transformed financial accessibility in Kenya and other African nations by offering a secure mobile banking solution for populations previously excluded from the formal banking system. Collectively, these social innovations exemplify how MNCs contribute not only to economic development but also to social well-being in emerging markets.

Social innovation, characterized by novel solutions that address social problems and needs both effectively and efficiently, has profoundly transformed the landscape of global societal challenges. It is increasingly acknowledged as pivotal in addressing critical issues such as social inequality, energy security, sustainability, food safety, and healthcare (Adomako & Tran, 2021 ; Cajaiba-Santana, 2014 ; Lee et al., 2019 ). Distinct from commercial innovation, social innovation prioritizes societal advancement over profit, reflecting a shift towards value-driven approaches to problem-solving (Husted, 2015 ; Steinfield & Holt, 2019 ). This growing interest in social innovation has catalysed academic inquiry, enriching the field with a robust body of knowledge that is primarily derived from case studies (Dionisio & de Vargas, 2020 ; Rygh, 2020 ). These studies have illuminated various aspects of social innovation, yet there remains a notable gap in the development of comprehensive theories and the application of diverse empirical methods within the field of international business (IB). This is reflected in multiple calls for MNCs to address social challenges through social innovation (Ramus et al., 2018 ; Rao-Nicholson et al., 2017 ; Sinkovics et al., 2014 ).

Traditionally associated with non-profit organizations and the governmental sector (e.g., Lind et al., 2018 ; Sinkovics et al., 2014 ), social innovation research has seldom extended to MNCs engaged in cross-border activities. Nonetheless, there has been a growing call for MNCs to actively participate in social innovation (Auerswald, 2009 ; Dionisio & de Vargas, 2020 ; Halme et al., 2012 ), recognizing its critical role in addressing societal challenges (Van der Have & Rubalcaba, 2016 ) and fostering social change, particularly in emerging markets (Howaldt et al. 2015 ; Phillips et al., 2015 ). However, the prevailing theories within IB predominantly tend to emphasize the profit maximization objectives of MNCs, focusing on their investment motives and operations across borders. This dominant focus on financial imperatives calls for a significant reorientation of scholarly focus. There is a pressing need to elevate social innovation to a central position within IB research, together with a re-evaluation and expansion of IB theories to inclusively consider the genesis and attributes of social innovation within MNCs. This shift is not merely corrective; it opens up fertile ground for addressing existing scholarly voids and presents a rich tapestry of opportunities to deepen and broaden the scope of social innovation research within the IB domain.

In direct response to this identified need for a paradigmatic shift, and to catalyse a concerted scholarly effort towards filling these gaps, we initiated a call for papers for a focused issue in May 2022. The call aimed to solicit contributions that would enrich the growing field of social innovation in IB studies by elucidating the factors that propel MNCs towards engaging in social innovation, the mechanisms that influence the innovation process, and the conditions under which social innovation achieves the anticipated outcomes beneficial to a spectrum of stakeholders. We sought to attract a diverse array of submissions encompassing theoretical, conceptual, and empirical explorations of the antecedents, processes, and outcomes associated with social innovation in MNCs. While the enthusiastic response from the academic community was heartening, it also underscored the disparate nature of research on social innovation within the IB sphere, highlighting both the challenges and the imperative of synthesizing these diverse inquiries into a cohesive understanding.

The title of this focused issue, “MNCs and Social Innovation in Emerging Markets’’, encapsulates the essence of the articles featured herein. Understanding the social dimension of innovation entails examining the diverse stakeholders and objectives that drive organizations and individuals in their quest for novel solutions to societal challenges. These stakeholders and objectives are deeply rooted in specific contexts—be it geographical, technological, cultural, or otherwise—shaping and influencing the innovation process. However, it is essential to recognize that both the problems prompting social innovation and the objectives driving it often transcend national boundaries.

To contextualize the combined contributions of the articles to the field of social innovation, we discuss and reflect on the relevant literature on social innovation in general and in the context of IB in particular in order to offer a new perspective for research on social innovation in the IB literature. We then highlight the key contributions made by the articles included in this focused issue to show how they collectively advance our understanding of social innovation phenomenon in emerging markets. Finally, we conclude by suggesting important avenues for future research.

2 An Overview of Previous Literature On Social Innovation

2.1 conceptualization of social innovation.

Social innovation, characterized by its innovative approaches to tackling societal challenges with a focus on social objectives, has garnered significant attention within the academic domain (Dionisio & de Vargas, 2020 ; Lee et al., 2019 ; van der Have & Rubalcaba, 2016 ). A fundamental aspect that sets social innovation apart is its emphasis on creating social value, distinguishing it from innovations driven solely by economic considerations (Phills et al., 2008 ). The scholarly exploration in this area has largely focused on defining social innovation, alongside developing typologies and models to categorize and thoroughly understand its various forms and manifestations. Nicholls et al. ( 2012 ) have made notable contributions to this effort by examining diverse types of social innovation and proposing a comprehensive typology within the social sector. Nicholls ( 2015 ), for example, explore the concept of social innovation, underlining its increasing recognition as a means to address both localized and widespread systemic issues. They illustrate how the concept of social innovation has evolved over the years. In the initial period, social innovation embodied the introduction of new ideas aimed at addressing unmet social needs with effective outcomes (Mulgan et al., 2007 ). This encompasses a broad spectrum of initiatives including novel ideas, actions, models, processes, and organizational forms, which collectively seek to enhance social relations or address societal needs unmet by current market mechanisms. Specifically, they note that social innovation literature presents two main conceptual frameworks. One focuses on innovating social processes to improve social relations and address power imbalances (Moulaert 2013 ; Mumford, 2002 ; Westley & Antadze, 2010 ), whereas the other views social innovation as a solution to market failure in providing essential public goods, differentiating it from economic/business innovation through its emphasis on meeting societal needs rather than creating new market opportunities (OECD 2022 ).

Building upon their earlier work, Nicholls et al. ( 2019 ) propose a broad typology that identifies distinct types of social innovation within the social sector. This framework differentiates between product, process, position, and paradigm innovation, each addressing social needs or challenges through various avenues, from tangible goods and services to fundamental shifts in societal values and behaviors. Furthermore, they argue that social innovation is stratified into three levels: incremental, institutional, and disruptive. Incremental innovation enhances the efficiency or effectiveness of goods and services to fulfil social needs, often pursued by charities and certain commercial firms targeting underserved markets, like the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ approach (Prahalad, 2006 ). Institutional innovation seeks to adapt or overhaul existing socio-economic arrangements and reconfigure market structure for generating new social values, exemplified by initiatives like Fair Trade or mobile banking. Disruptive innovation, on the other hand, seeks systemic change, usually driven by social movements or politically motivated entities aiming to alter power dynamics and social hierarchies for the benefit of marginalized groups. This type of innovation can manifest itself through organized collective actions or through more fluid coalitions leveraging new technologies or social media. Together, the framework and levels of social innovation provide a multifaceted understanding of how new ideas and interventions can contribute to social progress and transformation.

The extant literature has also investigated the drivers and enablers propelling social innovation, recognizing a myriad of factors influencing its emergence and success (Bason, 2010 ; Dionisio & de Vargas, 2020 ; Moulaert 2013 ; Lee et al. 2019 ). These drivers articulate a compelling narrative of social innovation as a critical response to the inadequacies and failures of existing systems—spanning governance, markets, policy, and technology—to ensure equitable well-being and benefits across society (Moulaert 2013 ). Similarly, Bason ( 2010 ) identifies several key enablers within organizational and community contexts. Central to this narrative is the notion that traditional mechanisms often overlook or inadequately address the complexities of modern societal challenges, including poverty, exclusion, and environmental degradation. This shortfall underscores a pivotal distribution dilemma, emphasizing the need for innovative approaches that not only address these challenges but also actively involve marginalized populations in the solution-generation process (Davis et al., 2005 ). This literature identifies a series of global crises as key drivers of the surge in social innovation interest ranging from climate change to social inequality and healthcare dilemmas. At the same time, rapid technological advancements and economic changes have necessitated a re-evaluation of social relations, with a growing emphasis on inclusivity and the equitable distribution of benefits. This context highlights the role of social innovation in bridging the historical divide between the productivity mechanisms of the private and public sectors, advocating for a more integrated, systemic approach to innovation (Drayton, 2002 ; Hämäläinen and Heiskala 2007 ). In response, social innovation emerges as a versatile approach, capable of transcending sectoral boundaries to foster creative, impactful solutions (Murray et al., 2010 ).

Despite the abundance of examples and discourse surrounding social innovation, Nicholls et al. ( 2015 ) acknowledge that the field lacks a unified definition, standardized performance measures, and a universally accepted policy framework. This gap can be attributed to the novelty of the field and the diversity inherent in the activities classified as social innovation—a double-edged sword that presents both strengths and challenges in addressing complex social issues. Indeed, Beckman et al. ( 2023 ) attest to these issues in their comprehensive examination of the social innovation field. They argue that the field is currently hindered by a “social innovation trap,” which results from disciplinary silos and has led to a limited exploration of the field's full potential. The authors highlight three main insights that have been overlooked due to this trap: (a) A fragmentation of social innovation across different academic disciplines has obscured the advantages unique to each discipline in contributing to social innovation. This fragmentation has led to a narrow focus on certain aspects of social innovation while neglecting others; (b) The field’s heavy emphasis on management and market perspectives has overlooked the importance of considering social innovation within the context of space and place. This oversight has limited the exploration of scaling social innovations and understanding their impact within specific localities; (c) The preference for market-oriented approaches over more democratic methods in social innovation scholarship. Balancing these perspectives could open up broader inquiries into the role of collaboration, knowledge, innovation, and outcomes in social innovation.

This critical analysis of the social innovation field is a call to action for researchers and practitioners to broaden their perspectives and methodologies in studying and implementing social innovation. By addressing these limitations, there is potential for significant advancements in understanding and fostering social innovation to tackle complex social problems.

2.2 New Perspectives of Social Innovation in International Business

The exploration of innovation often traces its roots to seminal works like Schumpeter’s book ( 1934 ) in particular, though it can also be linked to broader research on capitalism (Sombart, 1927 ) and sociology (Weber, 1922 ). Notably, the social dimension remained peripheral in Schumpeter’s inquiries, and most subsequent work on innovation, gaining prominence only recently within innovation discourse; for instance, through discussions of innovation as a form of “social action” (Phills et al., 2008 ). This renewed emphasis on the social aspect of innovation has prompted scholars to delineate differences between social innovation processes and business innovation processes. A key distinction lies in their intended outcomes (Cajaiba-Santana, 2014 ). While business innovation is primarily driven by the pursuit of economic value creation, with consideration of long-term financial benefits taking precedence (Dawson & Daniel, 2010 ; Lind et al., 2018 ), social innovation is geared towards affecting societal change, as reflected in shifts in attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. Consequently, the motivations, objectives, and metrics of success between social and business innovations are likely to diverge (Howaldt & Schwartz, 2010 ).

MNCs are increasingly tasked with balancing corporate objectives, credibility, and strategy with local conditions and societal requirements in order to fulfil both business and social goals across different national markets (Husted & Allen, 2006 ). However, the relationship between MNCs and social innovation remains theoretically underspecified and empirically underexplored due to challenges in understanding the concept and managing institutional processes for combining social innovation with strategic planning and implementation (Canestrino et al., 2015 ; Porter & Kramer, 2006 ). MNCs continue to face growth and profitability challenges despite efforts to minimize cost, to enter new international markets, and to enhance global supply chain management through international expansion. Simultaneously, MNCs are increasingly pressured to address pressing social, economic, and environmental issues due to public scrutiny and rising stakeholder expectations, as MNCs are seen as powerful contributors to, and beneficiaries of, these problems (Mirvis et al., 2016 ; Kramer & Porter 2011 ).

The concept of social innovation in IB is intricately linked with and influenced by other related concepts, with the most pertinent being corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is considered a non-market strategy for the purpose of MNCs’ survival and growth in cross-border operations (Lee et al., 2022 ; Luo et al., 2021 ; Mellahi et al., 2016 ), thus differing from the notion of social innovation. More specifically, CSR has traditionally focused on altruistic or generic programs aimed at addressing stakeholder pressure, and enhancing the credibility of MNCs, whereas social innovation signifies strategic investment that MNCs undertake and manage similar to other corporate projects (Dionisio et al., 2020 ; Lind, et al., 2018 ). Social innovation involves significant financial and human capital investment, as well as collaboration with different internal and external entities to co-create sustainable solutions and address social needs. Thus, social innovation seeks to not only address social challenges but also to generate new revenue streams through fostering a more socially relevant innovation system and corporate culture, thereby potentially becoming a source of competitive advantage.

The concept of creating shared value (see Kramer & Porter 2011 ) posits that shared value arises from the reciprocal, beneficial impact on both the economy and society in comparison to expenses, thus central to sustainable competitive advantage. While this is similar to social innovation, creating shared value primarily focuses on policies and procedures geared towards economic outcomes. Nonetheless, creating shared value has been integrated into the social innovation framework, recognizing the importance of aligning economic success with social progress. Furthermore, there is a new generation of MNCs adopting hybrid business models that are in harmony with the objectives of social sustainability (Chen, 1999 ; Miska et al., 2016 ). In contrast to conventional MNCs, which might require adjustments to their pre-existing business frameworks (Austin et al., 2008 ; Dionisio et al., 2020 ), these enterprises construct their solutions, brand identities, and operational and innovation strategies with an inherent focus on fostering mutual economic benefits while allowing stakeholders to articulate and pursue their social and sustainability goals. This strategy, emblematic of social innovation, has garnered attention from larger corporations’ intent on integrating social principles into their corporate ethos and culture, product features, manufacturing processes, and engagements with stakeholders.

Given these dynamics, social innovation emerges as a novel concept that encapsulates the equilibrium businesses must achieve to generate value for both shareholders and society at large. It is embedded in the broader emerging IB literature which moves away from solely focusing on firm-level operational and performance outcomes by taking account of the broader societal and environmental aspects of MNCs’ cross-border operations (Doh et al., 2019 ; Odziemkowska & Henisz, 2021 ; Van Tulder et al., 2021 ).

3 An Overview of Articles in the Focused Issue

In total, we received 28 submissions for our focused issue, indicative of a vibrant scholarly interest in the intersection of social innovation and IB. After undergoing a rigorous review process, which typically involved at least three rounds, we ultimately accepted 7 articles. Collectively, these articles advance the domain of social innovation within IB research by exploring the determinants of MNCs’ social innovation, examining the influences on the innovation process, and delineating the circumstances under which social innovation yields the anticipated benefits for a diverse array of stakeholders. The articles in this focused issue employ various methodologies and datasets, ranging from cross-sectional surveys to large-scale panel data. Moreover, they consider a diverse array of stakeholders engaged in social innovation in MNCs. The articles compiled in this focused issue illustrate the extensive domain of social innovation in emerging markets, offering valuable insights for IB scholars, practicing managers, and executives alike. Below, we provide a concise summary of the articles in Table  1 .

The first article by Nwoba et al., ( 2024 ) explores (i) the relationship between first social mover MNCs and social innovation; (ii) the impact of MNCs’ CSI on social value creation; and (iii) the moderating role of local embeddedness on the relationship between the first social mover MNCs, CSI, and social value creation. This article is theoretically grounded in the behavioral theory of social entrepreneurship, and the empirical analysis uses primary data from 150 MNCs operating in Nigeria. This article makes a theoretical contribution by showing that social innovation has a positive influence on social value creation. It further extends the literature by revealing that local embeddedness is an important contextual moderator that strengthens the path between first social mover MNCs, social innovation, and social value creation paths.

In the second article, Nkrumah et al., ( 2024 ) draw on the knowledge-based perspective to explain why MNE subsidiaries differ in their ability to pursue social innovation successfully in developing countries. The article uses primary data from 207 MNC subsidiaries in Ghana. The article reveals that relationship learning has a positive relationship with social innovation. Moreover, subsidiary autonomy enhances the positive association between relationship learning and social innovation and this moderating effect is stronger for subsidiaries with equity entry mode as opposed to non-equity entry mode. This article contributes to the social innovation literature by showing that MNEs’ relationship learning adds to social innovation variability under varying levels of subsidiary autonomy and modes of entry. It further expands our limited understanding of the factors driving social innovation by MNCs in developing nations. The authors also provide valuable guidance on the effective implementation of social innovation initiatives by MNC subsidiaries in such contexts.

The third article by Attah-Boakye et al. ( 2024 ) utilizes the upper echelons theory and employs data from 115 healthcare MNCs operating in 13 emerging economies. This study shows that older CEOs exhibit a greater propensity to champion, instigate, and execute social innovation on a broader scale and with more depth. It further provides evidence that CEOs and board members tend to play a more significant societal role as they age. Additionally, this article offers empirical validation for the greater contributions of senior board members and female board chairs. By complementing existing research on social innovation in developed nations, the article demonstrates the influence of CEO and board attributes on the scope and intensity of social initiatives in emerging economies. This article extends the social innovation and IB literature by providing empirical evidence reinforcing the increased influence of senior board members and female board chairs. This contribution supplements prior studies on social innovation in developed nations and elucidates the impact of CEO and board characteristics on the two dimensions (extent and scope) of social innovation initiatives in emerging economies.

In the fourth article, Chu et al. ( 2024 ) use financial data from large, listed subsidiaries of foreign MNCs in India based on a hand-collected dataset of firms’ disclosures of CSR activity. The findings show that as the subsidiary becomes more integrated into the local context, it may initiate social innovation projects aligned with community needs, aiming to mitigate adverse externalities. Applying the theoretical lens afforded by the institutional logics perspective, this article contributes to the IB and social innovation literature by exploring the role of MNE subsidiaries in resolving societal grand challenges through social innovation in order to improve positive externalities and reduce negative externalities in developing countries.

In the fifth article, Banna et al. ( 2024 ) draw on stakeholder and institutional theories to investigate the influence of social innovation on financial risk in emerging economy multinational corporations (EMNCs). The article utilized data from 90 EMNCs based in 14 emerging economies. It contributes to the IB and social innovation literature by revealing that social innovation reduces EMNC financial risk and challenges assumptions regarding the potential negative implications of excessive social innovation on financial risk. The article further reveals the moderating effects of institutional legitimacy on this linkage.

In the sixth article, Qu et al., ( 2024 ) utilize insights from eco-innovation research and the literature on MNC and foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers to formulate hypotheses regarding the relationship between regional knowledge spillovers from MNCs and the eco-innovation efforts of emerging market firms (EMFs) operating in a multi-dimensional task environment characterized by munificence, complexity, and dynamism. The empirical investigation was conducted using data from Chinese manufacturing firms from 2003 to 2013. This article extends the literature by revealing that regional knowledge spillovers from MNCs amplify the positive impact of munificence and alleviate the negative impacts of complexity and dynamism on the eco-innovation endeavors of EMFs. Further, the analysis of how MNC knowledge spillovers interact with the organizational environment offers fresh perspectives on the eco-innovation of EMFs.

The article that concludes this focus on social innovation by Pillai et al. ( 2024 ), extends the IB literature by deriving insights from legitimacy, institutional, and social alliances literature to develop a conceptual framework elucidating the significance of fostering social, institutional, and commercial legitimacy within international social alliances operating in bottom of the pyramid markets (BOPMs). The authors examine the hurdles encountered by international social alliances in BOPMs and identify factors facilitating the establishment of diverse forms of legitimacy by MNCs and social enterprises. This article enriches the field of IB by offering new insights into the array of legitimacy-building strategies employed by international social alliances situated in BOPMs to drive social value creation.

4 Future Research Agenda in International Business

Given the complexities of integrating social innovation research in IB theorizing, it is advantageous to pinpoint specific areas for future investigation. Instead of outlining detailed research questions, we propose overarching research priorities to better assist IB scholars engaged in social innovation research. Based on the overview of previous literature and the articles featured in this focused issue, we have identified some critical areas for researchers in the field of social innovation in IB to explore further, aiming to advance social innovation research in the IB domain.

First, the literature on social innovation in the IB area has not fully recognized the diverse mechanisms that can enhance social innovation. Future research should explore additional processes and structures beyond MNCs’ strategic intent and local embeddedness that contribute to the enhancement of social innovation and its outcomes. By investigating alternative mechanisms, such as MNCs’ strategic partnerships, supply chain integration, or community engagement programs, scholars can uncover new avenues for fostering social innovation within international business contexts. IB literature has mainly addressed the issues associated with collaborations between MNCs and local firms for the purpose of profit maximization (Buckley et al., 2017 ; Liu et al., 2020 ), while limited attention has been paid to how MNEs work with host country governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities to develop novel solutions for tackling social grand challenges (Lee et al., 2022 ). Thus, more research is needed to unpack the mechanisms facilitating collaboration between MNCs with different types of organizations and stakeholders, as well as the process of co-social innovation. Strategic partnerships and interactions between global actors and local actors are essential to fostering effective social innovation, given that social problems are often rooted in a host of interconnected challenges, many of which arise from deeply entrenched societal structures (Van Tulder, et al., 2021 ). Therefore, engaging in social innovation requires synergistic coordination between various organizations and stakeholders. For example, NGOs have in-depth knowledge about local societal problems, while MNCs can use financial resources and skills to support social innovation projects. For firms operating across borders, establishing partnerships with local governments, NGOs, and community organizations can be vital for addressing complex social issues. Future research should examine how MNCs and various local actors can achieve synergy in social innovation by combining their unique resources and capabilities.

Second, future research can advance our understanding of the effect of learning on social innovation by examining how these processes vary across institutionally distinct settings. In line with the suggestions of Nkrumah et al. ( 2024 ) in this focused section, by proposing and testing frameworks that account for country-level factors such as national cultural characteristics (House et al., 2004 ), political stability (Behera et al. 2024 ), and governance quality (Zhang et al., 2024 ), scholars can elucidate the contextual contingencies shaping the effectiveness of relationship learning in fostering social innovation within MNC subsidiaries. Additionally, the literature lacks studies that use a comparative analysis approach across various countries (Cinar et al., 2024 ). To overcome biases towards emerging and underdeveloped economies, future studies should incorporate data from a broader spectrum of economies, including advanced ones. By comparing the experiences of MNCs operating in diverse institutional contexts, researchers can ascertain the generalizability of findings and discern whether similar patterns emerge across different economic and institutional landscapes. Relatedly, comparative analyses across various geographical contexts can provide insights on the multifarious contextual factors influencing social innovation initiatives, thereby enriching our understanding of social innovation dynamics in diverse regions. Focusing on different institutional and geographical contexts will enable researchers to tease out how MNCs engage with social innovation given the support or constraints of regional institutional environments, or under what conditions regional and institutional settings act as barriers or enablers for MNCs’ social value creation.

Third, the social innovation literature, as illustrated by Chu et al. ( 2024 ) in this focused section, often explores social innovation in the manufacturing industry and large firms. Future research avenues could explore social innovation in sectors beyond manufacturing, and encompass firms of varying sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises, in line with the suggestions by Chu et al. ( 2024 ). Additionally, comparative studies across different industries can offer detailed insights into the diverse determinants and outcomes of social innovation initiatives, as suggested by several articles in this focused section (Attah-Boakye et al., 2024 ; Chu et al., 2024 ). Firms operating across borders need to develop a nuanced understanding of social innovation in different sectorial contexts and tailor their solutions by considering sector heterogeneity in order to effectively align their social innovation strategies with local needs and expectations. This could involve redesigning MNCs’ business models (Gasparin et al., 2021 ) and reconfiguring their global value chain (Ambos et al., 2021 ) by incorporating social innovation goals, given the local conditions of industries or sectors in which the MNCs operate. Further, while large MNCs can leverage their financial resources and global reach in addressing social problems, international SMEs may team up with well-established MNCs to maximise social value creation in social innovation ecosystems (Audretsch et al. 2022 ). Future research could examine the factors which enable SMEs to provide niche solutions for social problems and the mechanism through which international SMEs can effectively collaborate with MNCs to tackle social challenges.

Finally, studies adopting qualitative research approaches are scarce and provide limited empirical evidence in the social innovation literature. While the empirical studies in this focused section are all quantitative, several of them suggest qualitative studies for further exploring the mechanisms and process of social innovation (Chu 2024 ; Nwoba et al., 2024 ). Thus, we encourage future IB studies on social innovation to adopt a wide range of qualitative approaches to data collection and offer deeper insights into the motivations and decision-making processes driving MNCs’ investments in social innovation within the context of emerging markets. By capturing the nuanced perspectives of key stakeholders and exploring the underlying reasons behind social innovation initiatives, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of the drivers shaping MNCs’ social innovation strategies across borders, and the related outcomes. Future research should move beyond firm-centric quantitative analysis to adopting a variety of research methods, such as a case study approach or a mixed research method, to further advance IB research on social innovation by exploring the role of IB in general and MNCs in particular in addressing social grand challenges and leading to societal transformation and system change.

5 Conclusion

Spurred on by urgent societal demands, the field of social innovation is growing swiftly. These innovation endeavors regard social value creation as a paramount objective, championed by industry pioneers, policymakers, and scholars alike. Yet, considering the limited exploration of social innovation research in the IB literature (Dionisio & de Vargas, 2020 ; Lind et al., 2018 ), we extend an invitation to fellow IB scholars and practitioners to engage in the ongoing discourse to propel this intriguing research agenda forward. We hope that the articles presented in this focused issue will inspire further exploration in this field.

Data availability

No data was used in this article.

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Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere appreciation to the reviewers for their invaluable assistance in shaping and enhancing these significant contributions. Our gratitude also goes to the Editors-in-Chief of Management International Review, Prof. Michael-Jörg Oesterle and Prof. Joachim Wolf, for their steadfast support and guidance throughout this process. We are thankful for the opportunity to guest-edit and elevate these issues to the forefront of scholarly discourse. Xiaohui Liu would like to acknowledge funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers 72091310, 72091314 & 71832012. 

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San Diego State University, San Diego, USA

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Hongik University, Sejong, South Korea

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Adomako, S., Liu, X., Sarala, R.M. et al. Multinational Corporations and Social Innovation in Emerging Markets. Manag Int Rev (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-024-00540-w

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Accepted : 14 May 2024

Published : 24 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-024-00540-w

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