Explaining and developing the content dimensions of the digital transformation strategy

Digital technologies have had a profound impact on today's world, affecting businesses of all sizes and industries worldwide. Various industries such as banking, insurance, automotive, petrochemical, steel, energy, food, entertainment and education are experiencing fundamental changes based on digital technologies. In the current era, organizations have entered a new era in which digital technologies have revolutionized the majority of industries in different aspects, from products and services to customer expectations. To survive in this new era, organizations must undergo digital transformation, making deep changes to their activities, processes, capabilities, and business models to take advantage of digital technologies in their value chain. Digital transformation is not limited to a specific department of the organization, but rather affects various aspects of the organization and brings significant cultural and structural changes. Digital transformation is an inevitable necessity and a vital strategic issue for today's businesses, which will suffer from great losses if they do not adopt and implement the right strategy and consequently, they might fail. digital transformation strategy is defined as an emerging strategy for pre-digital organizations to coordinate and prioritize digital transformation initiatives and build capabilities to accept and implement digital business strategy. By specifying the path of digital transformation, this strategy could be considered as a guide for managers to lead digital transformation initiatives throughout the organization and determines the vision, goals, operational plans, necessary resources and capabilities for the digital transformation of the organization. However, the lack of a comprehensive reference framework that includes the various dimensions of digital transformation is a serious challenge in this field. Thus, this research aims to identify the content dimensions of the digital transformation strategy.

First step, by using a systematic literature review and a meta synthesis method, after screening and analyzing 22 selected articles, the primary codes were identified through open coding, then semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 experts, and the information collected with the method of qualitative content analysis (Hsieh and Shannon approach). In this research, in order to select experts, Judgmental Sampling has been used and all the selected experts had the experience of participating in the design of the digital transformation strategy. 

Based on the research findings, 72 identified codes were converted into 5 dimensions and 14 sub-dimensions. In the final framework, the dimensions and sub-dimensions are: value (business model, customer experience, employee experience and operational processes), digital technologies (Disruptive technologies and Common technologies), governance (leadership and governance style, ecosystem and structure and operational model), Dynamic capabilities of digital transformation (transformation capability and digital capability) and resources (financial resources, human resources and knowledge resources).

Organizations must undergo digital transformation to survive and remain competitive. Digital transformation is a risky path that affects all dimensions and strategies of the organization. Therefore, the leaders of the organizations are faced with different key decisions in this direction and should use a suitable strategy. Digital transformation strategy is a strategy for directing, coordinating and prioritizing digital transformation actions. By defining the path of digital transformation, this strategy is a guide and a model for key decisions and guiding initiatives in this area throughout the organization. Considering the lack of a comprehensive reference framework that includes different dimensions of digital transformation, the present research was conducted in order to identify the content dimensions of the digital transformation strategy. According to the results of this research, in order to formulate digital transformation strategy, organizations should make key decisions in the five dimensions of value, technology, governance, dynamic capabilities of digital transformation, and resources. What value will digital transformation creates for the organization, which digital technologies should the organization use in this direction, what changes should the organization make from the perspective of governance, which capabilities does the organization need for digital transformation and what resources does it need for this path; these are key questions that the organizations is required to answer in each dimension. The identified content dimensions are the key areas of decision-making in order to shape the digital transformation strategy. Understanding and making the best decisions for each dimension is crucial for success in the path of digital transformation.