Digital Transformation As A Strategic, Organizational, And Socio-Technical Reconfiguration: Integrating Leadership, Technology, And Value Creation In Contemporary Organizations

Abstract

Digital transformation has emerged as one of the most consequential organizational phenomena of the twenty-first century, reshaping how firms create value, organize work, engage with customers, and compete in dynamic environments. While early discourse often framed digital transformation as a predominantly technological undertaking, contemporary research increasingly recognizes it as a deeply strategic, organizational, and socio-technical process. Drawing strictly and exclusively on the provided body of literature, this article develops an integrated, publication-ready analysis of digital transformation that synthesizes strategic management, innovation, leadership, and technology perspectives. The study aims to advance conceptual clarity by examining what is genuinely novel about digital transformation, how organizations attempt to capture its value, and why many initiatives fail to deliver expected outcomes. Using a qualitative, interpretive research design grounded in systematic literature synthesis, the article analyzes foundational theories, emerging managerial patterns, and empirical insights from leading academic and practitioner-oriented sources. The findings reveal that digital transformation is best understood as an ongoing reconfiguration of organizational capabilities, leadership logics, and value creation mechanisms under conditions of technological acceleration and strategic impermanence. Rather than a linear transition from analog to digital, transformation unfolds as a continuous process shaped by transient competitive advantages, evolving customer expectations, and the convergence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, platforms, and the Internet of Things. The discussion highlights critical tensions between exploration and exploitation, centralization and decentralization, and technological ambition and organizational readiness. The article contributes to theory by integrating disparate research streams into a coherent analytical framework and to practice by articulating leadership and governance principles for managing digital transformation as a long-term strategic journey rather than a finite project.