Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review

Lu, Huie; Shaharudin, Muhammad Shabir Article Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Lu, Huie; Shaharudin, Muhammad Shabir (2024) : Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2419489 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326640 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cogent Business & Management ISSN: 2331-1975 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oabm20 Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review Huie Lu & Muhammad Shabir Shaharudin To cite this article: Huie Lu & Muhammad Shabir Shaharudin (2024) Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1, 2419489, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2419489 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2419489 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 24 Oct 2024. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 6373 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 5 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=oabm20 Cogent Business & ManageMent 2024, VoL. 11, no. 1, 2419489 Role of digital transformation for sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs: a systematic literature review Huie Lua,b and Muhammad Shabir Shaharudina aschool of Management, universiti sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia; bschool of economic and trade Management, anhui Vocational College of Defense technology, Lu’an, China ABSTRACT The digital revolution has fundamentally changed how businesses create value. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with their limited resources, must adapt to this new landscape to maintain a competitive edge through digital transformation (DT). This paper explores how SMEs can build sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) via DT. Using the WOS Core Collection database, we conducted a comprehensive review and bibliometric analysis, examining 1,856 articles on SCA, with a detailed focus on 57 that specifically address DT. The findings show that DT enhances SMEs’ innovation and dynamic capabilities, helping them overcome resource constraints and better respond to market shifts. Key digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms are crucial in driving these results. Practical insights are also offered for SMEs managers to tailor digital strategies, optimize operations, and build SCA. 1. Introduction Sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) is critical for firms to thrive and outperform competitors over the long term (Du et al., 2024; Wiggins & Ruefli, 2002). In today’s highly competitive environment, businesses are no longer content with short-term gains and are increasingly focused on building enduring competitive advantages (Huang et al., 2015; Rifqi et al., 2024). However, from an economic perspective, competitive activities may cause profitability and market share to regress to the mean over time, which can lead to the erosion of a firm’s competitive edge (Maury, 2017; Wiggins & Ruefli, 2002). Therefore, how to sustain competitive advantage remains a central topic in academic discussions, particularly concerning how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can achieve and maintain such an advantage in a rapidly changing market. SMEs play a pivotal role in both developed and developing economies, driving employment and innovation (Gherghina et al., 2020; Mago & Modiba, 2022). Although the criteria for defining SMEs differ globally, they are commonly based on the number of employees and business revenue (Montoro-Sanchez et al., 2018). While SMEs tend to exhibit greater agility and adaptability to environmental changes, they often face constraints in resources and professional capacity (Costa etal., 2024; Troise etal., 2022). These challenges prompt SMEs to continually seek ways to sustain their SCA, particularly in the context of digital transformation (DT). Academic perspectives on the relationship between DT and competitive advantage are divided. One view argues that the rapid evolution of digital technologies undermines the sustainability of competitive advantage, making SCA temporary and rare in today’s complex economic environment (D’Aveni et al., 2010; McGrath, 2013). In contrast, another perspective suggests that digital technologies, such as big data, digital platforms, and blockchain, enable firms to build and maintain SCA by improving adaptability and performance (Garmaki etal., 2023; Kristoffersen etal., 2021; Liu etal., 2023; Sarfraz etal., 2023). This © 2024 the author(s). Published by informa uK Limited, trading as taylor & Francis group CONTACT Muhammad shabirshaharudin [email protected] school of Management, universiti sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2419489 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. the terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 21 August 2024 Revised 12 October 2024 Accepted 16 October 2024 KEYWORDS Small and medium enterprises (SMEs); Sustainable competitive advantage; Digital transformation; Digital strategy; Systematic literature review SUBJECTS Small business management; Strategic management; Management of technology & innovation MAnAGEMEnT | RESEARCH ARTICLE 2 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn view emphasizes that digital capabilities allow organizations to seize new opportunities and achieve superior outcomes. nevertheless, the mechanisms linking DT and SCA remain complex and multifaceted (Xue etal., 2022). To address this, the first objective of this research is to explore how DT helps SMEs build and sustain SCA in competitive environments. RQ1: How does DT contribute to the development and sustainability of competitive advantage in SMEs? The second objective is to identify specific digital technologies that enable SMEs to overcome resource constraints and enhance their SCA in rapidly changing markets. RQ2: What specific digital technologies help SMEs overcome resource constraints and enhance their SCA in a rapidly changing market environment? The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 details the research methodology and data processing. Section 3 presents the data analysis and results. Section 4 provides a discussion, highlighting new findings, and answers the research questions. Section 5 identifies gaps for future research. Finally, Section 6 presents the conclusions. 2. Methodology To ensure systematicity and rigor in our literature review, we employed the systematic literature review (SLR) method. Following the recommendations of Kraus etal. (2020) and Tranfield et al. (2003), we structured the research process into three stages: planning, operation, and dissemination, as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1. the literature review process. COGEnT BUSInESS & MAnAGEMEnT 3 First, in line with our research objective of investigating the impact of DT on the SCA of SMEs, we developed the research questions, RQ1 and RQ2, and identified relevant data sources and search criteria. In the operation stage, we extracted the literature from the designated databases, screened the eligible studies, and analyzed the data using Excel and VOSviewer. Finally, the review results were compiled and disseminated in the dissemination stage. 2.1. Stage 1: Planning the review Accurate literature data is fundamental to conducting a SLR, as the precision of the data is critical (Wolfswinkel et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2023). After defining the research objectives and questions, we developed a search plan outlining the scope of literature selection, as shown in Table 1. We chose the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection databases, which are widely recognized by academics for their comprehensive coverage and high-quality literature (Chadegani etal., 2013). Following the recommendations of Kraus etal. (2020), we focused on peer-reviewed published articles and review articles, excluding conference proceedings, books, and other materials. Our search criteria included the topic fields (title, keywords, and abstract) and were restricted to English-language papers. As shown in Table 1. 2.2. Stage 2: Operating the review In this stage, we carried out literature extraction, screening, and analysis. First, we searched the literature databases following the protocol established in the previous stage. Using ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ as the topic keyword, we initially selected 1935 papers. With the keywords ‘sustainable competitive advantage’ AnD ‘SMEs’ OR ‘small and medium enterprises’, 152 papers were identified, and using ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ AnD ‘digital transformation*’ OR ‘digitalization*’ OR ‘digitalisation*’ only 61 papers were found. In the WOS Core Collection database, we selected ‘Full Record and Cited References’ to export the paper records into Excel sheets. Afterward, we reviewed the document types and excluded book chapters and retracted papers. The screened paper data is shown in Table 2. We utilized the bibliometric software VOSviewer to analyze the literature in this review. VOSviewer systematically examines literature by analyzing keywords, authors, institutions, journals, and other relevant information (Hosseini et al., 2018; Shaharudin et al., 2019). It is widely recognized for its effectiveness in visualizing complex relationships within large sets of academic publications (Kirby, 2023). One of its key strengths is its ability to efficiently handle large datasets, generating visual maps that clearly illustrate clusters of research topics and collaborations. Table 1. Literature review parameters. Parameter Description search database Web of science core collection search field topic = title, abstract, keywords, keywords plus search keywords ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’, ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ anD ‘sMes*’ oR ‘small and medium enterprises*’, ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ anD ‘digital transformation*’ oR ‘digitalization*’ oR ‘digitalisation*’ Language english Document types article and review article time span until 21st september 2024 Source: author’s elaboration. Table 2. search results of the database. topic keywords article number screening result ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ 1935 1856 ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ anD ‘sMes*’ oR ‘small and medium enterprises*’ 152 149 ‘sustainable competitive advantage*’ anD ‘digital transformation*’ oR ‘digitalization*’ oR ‘digitalisation*’ 61 57 Source: author’s elaboration. 4 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn 2.3. Stage 3: Disseminate the review At this stage, we will carefully discuss the analysis results and present our conclusions. The remaining sections of this paper will showcase our findings. 3. Results This section presents the results of the SLR and bibliometric analysis, including bibliometric analysis of literature in the three research areas of SCA, SCA, and DT, SMEs’ SCA. 3.1. Keywords analysis for SCA We utilized VOSviewer to conduct an author keyword analysis on 1,856 papers related to SCA, as illustrated in Figure 2. In this visualization, the size of the node indicates the frequency of occurrence of the keyword in the literature, the color of the node represents the change in research hotness of different keywords over time, and the thickness of the line reflects the strength of the relationship between keywords. Besides SCA, the four largest nodes are ‘competitive advantage’, ‘knowledge management’, ‘innovation’, and ‘sustainability’, indicating that these are the dominant research themes in the literature analyzed. Compared with the relatively early research on ‘resource-based view’, ‘knowledge management’, ‘dynamic capabilities’, and ‘sustainability’, these have become hot topics in recent years. This shows that research is increasingly focusing on how to achieve SCA through innovation, knowledge management, and dynamic capabilities. Additionally, several topics in the upper part of the image, such as ‘digital transformation’, ‘Industry 4.0’, ‘open innovation’, ‘SMEs’, and ‘business model innovation’, are displayed in yellow, indicating that in recent years, research has increasingly focused on the impact of DT on maintaining competitive advantage. At the same time, there is growing scholarly attention on how SMEs can enhance their competitive Figure 2. sCa author keywords overlay visualization bibliographic coupling. COGEnT BUSInESS & MAnAGEMEnT 5 advantage through DT and innovation. Early theories, such as the resource-based view, continue to serve as foundational frameworks for these studies. 3.2. Keywords analysis for SMEs’ SCA Given the limited research on the SCA of SMEs in the context of DT, we conducted separate analyses of the SCA of SMEs and the SCA within the context of DT. Out of the 1,856 papers on SCA, we identified only 149 studies that specifically focus on SMEs’ SCA. We analyzed these studies using VOSviewer and presented the results in Figure 3. As shown in the figure, apart from the SCA and SMEs nodes, there are no significantly larger nodes, indicating that research in this area is relatively fragmented. However, the color of the nodes reveals that in recent years, topics such as ‘eco-friendly product’, ‘business environment’, ‘entrepreneurial capabilities’, ‘adoption behavior’, and ‘learning’ have become primary research focuses. Furthermore, the cluster relationships show that keywords such as ‘entrepreneurial orientation’ and ‘dynamic capabilities’ emerge around the core themes of SCA and SMEs; this indicates that research on how SMEs can achieve SCA through innovation and dynamic capabilities is an important research direction. ‘Entrepreneurial orientation’ is closely associated with terms like ‘entrepreneurial marketing’ and ‘business model innovation’, highlighting the significance of innovation orientation, market strategy, and business model innovation in achieving SCA. Meanwhile, keywords such as ‘open innovation’ and ‘absorptive capacity’ link to ‘dynamic capabilities’, highlighting the crucial role of a firm’s dynamic and absorptive capabilities in maintaining a competitive advantage in rapidly changing markets. 3.3. Keywords analysis for SCA and DT Figure 4 highlights the research hotspots in the fields of DT and SCA. The larger nodes, such as ‘dynamic capabilities’, ‘Industry 4.0’, and ‘big data’, indicate that leveraging big data and dynamic capabilities to achieve competitive advantage within the context of DT is a key research focus. The blue-green nodes, such as ‘sustainability’ and ‘big data analytics’, suggest that researchers have been Figure 3. sMes’ sCa author keywords overlay visualisation bibliographic coupling. 6 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn exploring these topics regularly since 2021 or earlier. In contrast, the yellow and green nodes, such as ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘entrepreneurial ecological orientation’, represent emerging research areas from recent years (2022–2024). Additionally, the thick lines between ‘digital transformation’ and ‘dynamic capabilities’ demonstrate the close relationship between these two concepts. There are also connections between ‘sustainable competitive advantage’, ‘contingency theory’, and ‘business model innovation’, indicating that researchers are investigating how business model innovation can drive SCA in the context of DT. Figure 4 also presents several research clusters, each focused on distinct research themes. In the DT cluster, keywords like ‘Industry 4.0’, ‘big data’, ‘information technology’, and ‘dynamic capabilities’ emphasize the direction of technology-driven transformation, the application of dynamic capabilities, and the integration of big data within DT. The SCA cluster includes terms like ‘business model innovation’ and ‘contingency theory’, highlighting that achieving SCA through innovative business models and contingency theory is a significant research focus. In the dynamic capabilities cluster, keywords such as ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘absorptive capacity’ reflect the importance of these capabilities in maintaining competitiveness within rapidly changing market environments. The presence of technological themes, such as big data, artificial intelligence, and Industry 4.0, indicates that leveraging these technologies to enhance competitive advantage is a key research direction. The strong connections between ‘big data’, ‘digital transformation’, and ‘sustainable competitive advantage’ suggest that big data analytics plays a crucial role in helping firms achieve and maintain competitive advantage. 3.4. Detailed analysis of key literature Based on our research objectives, which focus on the contribution of DT to the SCA of SMEs, as well as the key technologies and capabilities that influence SMEs’ SCA, we conducted a detailed analysis of 57 research papers related to DT and SCA. The analysis covered aspects such as publication year, research methods, theoretical frameworks, research content, key findings, and innovations. Table 3 displays the analysis results. Figure 4. sCa and Dt author keywords overlay visualisation bibliographic coupling. COGEnT BUSInESS & MAnAGEMEnT 7 Based on the selected literature on DT and SCA, we conducted a detailed analysis of the field. The first article on this topic was published in 2017, and the number of publications began to grow rapidly in 2022, indicating that the relationship between SCA and DT is gaining increasing attention from scholars. Among the theories frequently employed in these studies, resource-based theory (RBT) is the most prominent, appearing in 26.32% of the total literature. Dynamic capabilities theory is equally prevalent, sharing the same proportion as RBT. Innovation theory and strategic theory follow, with proportions of 14.04 and 12.28%, respectively. These findings indicate that numerous scholars perceive innovation as a crucial element in fostering SCA, and widespread consensus supports the implementation of DT as a strategic initiative. In terms of research methods, surveys combined with regression analysis or structural equation modeling are the most commonly used approaches, representing half of the analyzed studies. The extensive application of case studies, particularly in earlier research, accounts for 24.56% of the total. Additionally, 19.3% of the studies utilized interviews, including both semi-structured and in-depth interviews. notably, two papers published in 2024 employed fsQCA in combination with other quantitative methods, while one paper from 2023 used fsQCA exclusively for analysis. This trend suggests a growing diversity of research methodologies within the field. We compiled the keywords from 57 articles in Excel and performed a statistical analysis, with the results shown in Table 3. Aside from our selected themes of SCA and DT, the most frequently mentioned keywords were ‘capabilities’ (24.56%) and ‘innovation’ (19.3%). Capabilities mainly refer to dynamic capabilities and big data capabilities, while innovation research focuses on technological innovation and business model innovation. Consequently, we frequently mentioned ‘technology’ (8.77%), ‘big data’ (12.28%), and ‘business model’ (12.28%). These results align with our previous analysis using VOSviewer, indicating that in the context of DT, enhancing competitive advantage through these technologies and innovations (Bilal et al., 2024) is a significant research focus. 4. Discussion of the results This study aimed to investigate two key research questions (RQ1 and RQ2) related to how DT impacts the SCA of SMEs and the specific digital technologies and capabilities that facilitate this process. In this section, we will first address RQ1, examining the role of DT in building and sustaining CA in competitive Table 3. sCa and Dt topic paper analysis statistics table. target Content no % Year 2024 8 14.04 2023 22 38.60 2022 16 28.07 2021 6 10.53 2017–2020 5 8.77 theory Resource-based theory 15 26.32 Dynamic capability theory 15 26.32 innovation theory 8 14.04 strategic theory 7 12.28 grounded theory 2 3.51 stakeholder theory 2 3.51 Method Questionnaire 26 45.61 Case study 14 24.56 interview 11 19.30 seM (PLs-seM, aMos) 26 45.61 Regression analysis (sPss, stata) 6 10.53 fsQCa 3 5.26 Key words Dt and digitalization and digitalisation 44 77.19 sCa 13 22.81 Capability and capabilities 14 24.56 innovation 11 19.30 Dynamic capability 7 12.28 Big data 7 12.28 Business model 7 12.28 technology 5 8.77 Source: author’s elaboration. Note: the percentage is the number divided by the total number of articles (57). 14 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn Kraus, S., Breier, M., & Dasí-Rodríguez, S. 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Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 16(11), 479. https:// doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16110479 Appendix A Table A1.  no title author, YeaR theory Research methods Keywords 1Dynamic capabilities and digitalization as antecedents of innovation and sustainable performance: empirical evidence from Vietnamese sMes Vo thai et al., 2024 Dynamic capability theory, innovation theory Questionnaire method, structural equation modeling (seM) Dynamic capabilities, digitalization, business model innovation, sustainable business performance, Vietnam smalland medium-sized enterprises 2Drivers of decision-making towards for digital transformation ulrich et al., 2024 Corporate behavior theory, digital transformation theory Questionnaire survey, regression analysis, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCa) Digital transformation, competitive advantage, strategy management, profitability 3sustainable competitive advantage under digital transformation: an eco-strategy perspective Du et al., 2024 Dynamic capability theory, entrepreneurial eco-system orientation theory fsQCa, seM (sPss and aMos) entrepreneurial ecological orientation, dynamic capabilities, sustainable competitive advantage, digital transformation, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCa) 4technological integration for imitation deterrence of new entrants: evidence from the Japanese digital imaging industry in 1990–2014 Hamada, 2024 Resource-based theory, innovation theory Case study, qualitative research Product architecture design, digital imaging industry, entry deterrence, DsLR camera market, technological development 5Digital transformation at third-party logistics providers: challenges and best practices Mvubu & naude, 2024 innovation diffusion theory semi-structured in-depth interviews, qualitative research Digital transformation, third-party logistics, challenges, best practices, south africa 6Digitally transforming the organization through knowledge management: a socio-technical system (sts) perspective thomas, 2024 social-technical system theory in-depth interviews, qualitative research Knowledge management, digital transformation, drivers, social-technical system theory (sts), innovation 7the interplay of lean six sigma, industry 4.0, and dynamic capabilities: pathways to sustainable competitive advantage Rifqi et al., 2024 Dynamic capability theory Questionnaire, PLs-seM Lean six sigma (Lss), industry 4.0 (i4.0), dynamic capabilities (DC), sustainable competitive advantage (sCa), explanatory sequence model 8the impact of digitalisation on the profitability of large us banks Chesini & giaretta, 2024 Knowledge base theory Quantitative research Digitalisation, digital banking, profitability, bank, knowledge-based theory, content analysis 9new product development capability, sustainable competitive advantage, digital transformation, and marketing performance: evidence from thailand sookbumroong & Phornlaphatrachakorn, 2023 Dynamic capability theory Questionnaire, seM, multiple regression analysis new product development capability, sustainable competitive advantage, digital transformation, marketing performance 10 strategic orientation, dynamic capabilities, and digital transformation of commercial banks: a fuzzy-set QCa approach Cheng et al., 2023 strategic orientation theory, dynamic capability theory Questionnaire, fsQCa strategic orientation, dynamic capabilities, digital transformation, fsQCa (Continued) COGEnT BUSInESS & MAnAGEMEnT 17 no title author, YeaR theory Research methods Keywords 11 Digital transformation in corporate banking: toward a blended service model LLóska & uotila, 2024 Competitive advantage theory, innovation theory semi-structured interviews, case study, qualitative analysis Business model development, service innovation, customer relationship management, banks, competitive advantage, value creation, information technology 12 the effect of electronic human resource management systems on sustainable competitive advantages: the roles of sustainable innovation and organizational agility alqarni et al., 2023 Dynamic capability theory, organizational agility theory Questionnaire, PLs-seM electronic human resource management systems, sustainable competitive advantage, sustainable innovation, organizational agility 13 Business process reengineering for designing a knowledge-enabled customer-centric competitiveness strategy al-shammari, 2023 Knowledge management theory, business process reengineering theory systematic literature review, qualitative research Business process reengineering, BPR, digital transformation, knowledge management, customer relationship management, CRM, customer knowledge, competitiveness strategy 14 Leading digital business model transformation in the K-pop industry: the case of sM entertainment Cho et al., 2023 strategic learning theory, leadership theory Case study, semi-structured interview, qualitative research K-pop, digital business model transformation, market pioneer, strategic learning, charismatic leadership, organizational capabilities, sM entertainment 15 Big data analytics capability and contribution to firm performance: the mediating effect of organizational learning on firm performance garmaki et al., 2023 Resource-based theory, dynamic capability theory, grounded theory in-depth interview, qualitative research Big data analytics, big data analytics capability, digital transformation, organizational learning, grounded theory 16 Platform business model innovation in the digitalization era: a “driver-process-result” perspective Jia et al., 2023 Business Model innovation (BMi) theory, value co-creation theory Longitudinal single case study, semi-structured interviews, literature review, field observations Platform, business model innovation, digitalization era, value co-creation 17 unlocking sustainable competitive advantage: exploring the impact of technological innovations on performance in Mexican sMes within the tourism sector León-gómez et al., 2023 Competitive advantage theory, technology innovation theory telephone survey, PLs-seM environmental sustainability, technological innovation, performance, PLsseM, information and communication technologies (iCt), digitalization 18 the impact of digital transformation on supply chain capabilities and supply chain competitive performance ning & Yao, 2023 Contingency theory, resource-based theory Questionnaire, seM Digital transformation, supply chain capability, sustainable competitive performance, contingency theory 19 Digital transformation and the circular economy: creating a competitive advantage from the transition towards net zero manufacturing okorie et al., 2023 Resource-based theory Literature review, seminars, interviews Digital transformation, resource-based view, net-zero manufacturing, circular economy, sustainable competitive advantage, engaged scholarship 20 How digital transformation promotes disruptive innovation? evidence from Chinese entrepreneurial firms Pang & Wang, 2023 Dynamic capability theory, cross-organizational collaboration theory Questionnaire survey, multiple regression analysis Digital transformation, interorganizational collaboration, disruptive innovation, dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial firms 21 the mediator role of task performance in the effect of digital literacy on firm performance sadik tatli et al., 2023 Human capital theory Questionnaire, sPss analysis Digital literacy, firm performance, human capital, task performance, white collar 22 sustainable supply chain, digital transformation, and blockchain technology adoption in the tourism sector sarfraz et al., 2023 Resource-based theory Questionnaire, seM (aMos) Table 1. Continued. (Continued) 18 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn no title author, YeaR theory Research methods Keywords 23 gaining user confidence in banking industry’s quest for digital transformation: a product-service system management perspective shin & Cheng, 2023 Resource-based theory, consumer value theory Questionnaire, seM (aMos) Product-service systems, banking industry, Fintech quality, Fintech user confidence, resource-based view, utilitarian, conditional, and social values 24 organisational resilience, ambidexterity and performance: the roles of information technology competencies, digital transformation policies and paradoxical leadership ttrieu et al., 2024 Resource-based theory, dynamic capability theory Questionnaire, PLs-seM it competencies, organisational ambidexterity, organisational resilience, paradoxical leadership, business performance, digital transformation policies 25 Data capital investment strategy in competing supply chains XXin et al., 2024 game theory, supply chain theory three-stage non-cooperative game model, numerical simulation supply chain competition, data capital investment (DCi), three-stage non-cooperative game, stackelberg game 26 Research on influencing factors and path of digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises ZZhang & Wang,g, 2024 grounded theory, resource-based theory, dynamic capability theory Questionnaire, seM Manufacturing enterprises, digital transformation, digital dynamic capability 27 the effects of institutions, firm-level factors and rational decision-making on entrepreneurial behaviors of MsMes: lessons and opportunities for transition communities Kryeziu et al., 2023 institutional theory, rational decision theory Questionnaire surveys, quantitative analysis (sPss and stata) entrepreneurial behavior, institutions, firm-level factors, rational decision-making, MsMes 28 Creation of sustainable growth with explainable artificial intelligence: an empirical insight from consumer packaged goods retailers Behera et al., 2023 Resource-based theory, competitive strategy theory Questionnaire, seM explainable artificial intelligence, sustainable growth, sustainable competitive advantage, information systems business value, competitive strategy 29 Harvesting the power of location data to improve customers’ experience and destination attractiveness tsitiridou & Fouskas, 2023 stakeholder theory Field survey Location data, customer experience, destination attractiveness, location technologies, digital transformation, interorganisational relations 30 Data-driven human resource and data-driven talent management in internal and recruitment communication strategies: an empirical survey on italian firms and insights for european context Conte & siano, 2023 Human resource management theory Questionnaire surveys, quantitative analysis (sPss) Big data, industry 4.0, human resource, talent management, digital transformation 31 the impact of industry 4.0 on the reconciliation of dynamic capabilities: evidence from the european manufacturing industries Felsberger et al., 2022 Resource-based theory, dynamic capability theory Multiple case study, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and self-assessment forms. industry 4.0, operations management, dynamic capabilities, case study research, manufacturing industry 32 Can big data analytics help organisations achieve sustainable competitive advantage? a developmental enquiry shah, 2022 Resource-based theory, knowledge-based theory, Literature review, inductive method Big data analytics, knowledge-based view, maturity model, resource-based view, sustainable competitive advantage, digital age 33 a big data strategy to reinforce self-sustainability for pharmaceutical companies in the digital transformation era: a case study of egyptian pharmaceutical companies Hassanin & Hamada, 2022 Dynamic capability theory Literature review, case study and semi-structured interviews Big data, digital transformation, egyptian pharmaceutical companies, strategy, barriers Table 1. Continued. (Continued) COGEnT BUSInESS & MAnAGEMEnT 19 no title author, YeaR theory Research methods Keywords 34 How multidimensional digital empowerment affects technology innovation performance: the moderating effect of adaptability to technology embedding Li et al., 2022 Resource-based theory, knowledge-based theory, Questionnaire, seM Digital empowerment, technology innovation performance, adaptability to technology embedding, high–end equipment manufacturing enterprises, sustainable competitive advantage 35 Patterns and principles of the development of digital ecosystems Lipovenko et al., 2022 Digital ecosystem theory, innovative business model theory Literature review, case study innovative business models, digital environment, global competitiveness, statistical analysis 36 seeking the resilience of service firms: a strategic learning process based on digital platform capability LLiu et al., 2023 Dynamic capability theory, strategic learning theory Questionnaire, seM Digital platform capability, strategic learning, resilience, service firms, legal environment 37 the correlation between digital technology and digital competitiveness Martincevic, 2022 Competitiveness theory, digital transformation theory systematic literature review method information – communication technologies (iCt), digitalization, competitiveness, digital transformation, digital technologies, digital competitiveness, business market, business 38 strategic capabilities for business model digitalization Menchini et al., 2022 social materiality theory, enterprise architecture theory survey method, focus group research, analysis of variance Maturity in digital business models, enterprise architecture, sociomateriality 39 achieving competitive sustainable advantages (Csas) by applying a heuristic-collaborative risk model nunes et al., 2022 Risk management theory, social network analysis theory Case study organizational risk management, organizational network analysis, critical success factors, business intelligence architecture, sustainability; organizational digital transformation, industry 4.0 40 green talent management and employees’ innovative work behavior: the roles of artificial intelligence and transformational leadership oodugbesan et al., 2023 VRio theory, stakeholder theory Questionnaire, PLs-seM green talent management, innovative work behavior, sustainable competitive advantage, transformational leadership, artificial intelligence, PLs-seM 41 CoViD-19 turbulence and positive shifts in online purchasing by consumers: modeling the enablers using isM-MiCMaC analysis ssharma et al., 2023 Consumer behavior theory, supply chain theory expert opinion method, interpretive structural modeling method and MiCMaC analysis supply chain, MiCMaC, online purchase, CoViD-19, changing buying behavior, digitization-commerce, isM analysis 42 Research on digital transformation based on complex systems: visualization of knowledge maps and construction of a theoretical framework Xu et al., 2022 Complex systems theory Knowledge mapping, bibliometric analysis Digital transformation, organization management system, bibliometrics; visual analysis, sustainable competitive advantage 43 Digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises: an empirical study on the relationships between digital transformation, boundary spanning, and sustainable competitive advantage Xue et al., 2022 Resource-based theory, boundary-crossing theory Questionnaire survey, stratified regression analysis 44 Big data capability and sustainable competitive advantage: the mediating role of ambidextrous innovation strategy Zhang et al., 2022 Dynamic capability theory, ambidextrous innovation theory Questionnaire survey, stratified regression analysis Big data capability, exploitative innovation strategy, explorative innovation strategy, balanced dimension of ambidextrous innovation strategy, combined dimension of ambidextrous innovation strategy, sustainable competitive advantage Table 1. Continued. (Continued) 20 H. LU AnD M. S. SHAHARUDIn no title author, YeaR theory Research methods Keywords 45 How to stimulate employees’ innovative behavior: internal social capital, workplace friendship and innovative identity Zhao et al., 2022 social identity theory, conservation of resources theory Questionnaires, seM (sPss and aMos) internal social capital, innovative identity, workplace friendship, employees’ innovative behavior, psychological factors 46 entrepreneurship, digital capabilities, and sustainable business model innovation: a case study gao et al., 2022 Dynamic capabilities theory, entrepreneurship theory Case study, quantitative data analysis 47 influence of digital technologies and its technological dynamics on company management Martincevic & Kozina, 2021 Dynamic theory of technology, digital transformation theory Questionnaire, regression analysis Digitalization, digital strategy, digital transformation, digital technology, export companies, information and communication technologies (iCt), management 48 supply chain management concept and digital economy: digital supply chain technological innovation Chupanova et al., 2021 supply chain management theory, digital transformation theory Literature review, expert survey Digital transformation, product quality, supply chain management 49 artificial intelligence and business strategy towards digital transformation: a research agenda Kitsios & Kamariotou, 2021 strategic management theory, information technology theory systematic literature review method artificial intelligence, business strategy digital transformation, information technology, industry 4.0, sustainable competitive advantage 50 stability in turbulent times? the effect of digitalization on the sustainability of competitive advantage Knudsen et al., 2021 Big data and network effect theory, competitive advantage theory Qualitative analysis, case study Big data, network effects, digitalization, competitive advantage 51 the effects of business analytics capability on circular economy implementation, resource orchestration capability, and firm performance Kristoffersen et al., 2021 Resource-based theory, resource coordination theory Questionnaire, PLs-seM Digital circular economy, big data analytics, circular economy capability, sustainability, policy implication, digitalization 52 global challenge: From intra-company staff management to working with the talent odegov, 2021 talent management theory Literature review, case study, empirical analysis skills mismatch, skills gap, staff shortage, talent, talent discovery and development, demand by occupational groups 53 supporting the sustainability of natural fiber-based value chains of sMes through digitalization Kamišalić et al., 2020 Digital transformation and sustainability theory, value chain theory Case study Digitalization, digitalization index, sMe, small and medium-sized enterprises, value chain, natural fiber, sustainability, industry 4.0 54 Digitalisation as a driver of industrial renewal – perception and qualitative evidence from the usa Yli-Viitala et al., 2020 Path dependence theory, strategic renewal theory Qualitative research, semi-structured interviews Digitalisation, industrial renewal, path dependence, manufacturing 55 technology adoption for the integration of online– offline purchasing savastano et al., 2019 omnichannel retail theory, innovative strategy theory, competitive advantage theory Multiple case study, qualitative analysis technology and innovation management, digital transformation, in-store technology, omnichannel retailing, pioneering strategy 56 equipment maintenance business model innovation for sustainable competitive advantage in the digitalization context: Connotation, types, and measuring Chen et al., 2018 Business model innovation theory, value creation theory Document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaire surveys equipment maintenance, business model innovation, equipment maintenance business model innovation connotation, measuring; digitalization, sustainable competitive advantage 57 the case for a complete model of strategic resource utility in sport and entertainment management Hayduk, 2017 Resource-based theory, dynamic capability theory literature review, case study strategic management, resources, sport, entertainment Table 1. Continued.