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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL – AN ANALYSIS
OF THE RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP
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14th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business
437
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL – AN
ANALYSIS OF THE RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP
Kraus, Patrick1; Schlegel, Dennis2
Business School, Pforzheim University, Pforzheim, Germany
1
School of Informatics, Reutlingen University, Reutlingen, Germany
2
ABSTRACT
The disruptive potential of digital transformation (DT) has been widely discussed in scholarly
literature and practitioner-oriented discourses. The management control (MC) function is an
important corporate function, as it provides transparency on the economic situation of a firm.
DT challenges MC in a two-fold and reciprocal nature as it (i) changes the MC function itself as
well as (ii) the entire firm and its business models, which needs to be accompanied by the MC
function. Given the complexity and variety of phenomena within the developments in the
context of DT, a comprehensive management approach is essential. Surprisingly, there exist
few convincing approaches, which support a comprehensive management of the DT. The
objectives of this paper are therefore to discuss the impact of DT on MC, as well as, to develop
a framework to control DT of an organization from a MC perspective. Based on a literature
review and conceptual research, our study contributes to knowledge by proposing an initial,
preliminary conceptual framework to manage DT, from a MC perspective. The framework
highlights important dimensions that should be considered in the management of DT, for
example related to processes and MC instruments.
Keywords: Digital Transformation, Digitalization, Management Control, Framework, Germany
INTRODUCTION
Digital transformation (DT) has been a major disruptive trend for organizations in various industries in
recent years, creating a demand to transform processes, business models and the organization as a
whole (Doukidis, Spinellis and Ebert, 2020). These developments have been massively accelerated by
the Covid-19 pandemic (e.g. Agostino, Arnaboldi and Lema, 2020; Soto-Acosta, 2020).
Many studies have highlighted the importance of DT for firms in general (Matzler et al., 2018;
Margiono, 2020), as well as, for specific industries such as the automotive industry (Llopis-Albert,
Rubio and Valero, 2021) various other industries (Stark, 2020) and traditional industries (Andal-Ancion,
Cartwright and Yip, 2003; Remane et al., 2017). Besides an industry-specific perspective, also a
functional view has been applied, for instance analyzing DT of the sales function (Guenzi and Habel,
2020) or the finance function (Glader and Strömsten, 2020). However, DT in the context of the
Contemporary Business Concepts
and Strategies in the new Era
ISSN: 2547-8516
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management control (MC) function has been left quite unexplored, especially in an English-speaking
scholarly context (e.g. Möller, Schäffer and Verbeeten, 2020).
The overall aim of this article is therefore to shed light on DT in the context of the MC function. More
specifically, the following objectives have been formulated. First, to discuss the impact of DT on MC.
Second, to develop a framework to control DT of an organization from a MC perspective. By doing so,
existing frameworks are critically compared and discussed. The nature of the research is conceptual
mainly based on literature review. Conceptual discussions are reflected in the context of the
professional experience of the authors in order to ensure practical relevance and applicability of the
developed framework. The main contribution to knowledge of this paper is hence the proposal of a
novel conceptual framework to control DT. Additionally, the paper usefully synthesizes the key
discussions and developments of DT in a MC context, also bringing important contributions from prior
publications in German language to the international scholarly debate.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. First the research approach and nature of the
research will be discussed subsequently followed by exemplifying the contextual and theoretical
background (DT, MC). Then the impact of DT on MC is being discussed illustrating the reciprocal
relationship between MC and DT as well as critically comparing existing conceptual frameworks.
Finally, we propose the digital transformation control framework (DTCF) and conclude our discussion
with a brief summary of the key findings.
RESEARCH APPROACH AND THE NATURE OF THIS RESEARCH
The development of the conceptual framework conducted in this research is mainly based on a
literature review and further enriched and reflected with the extensive professional experiences the
authors gathered in practice and consultancy projects in the fields of DT and MC. Hence, the nature of
this research is also practice-oriented, however, intensively rooted in the theoretical discussions and
foundations within the research field. This can be considered an appropriate approach, given the
nature of the phenomena under research and the importance for scholars, especially in the business and
management context, to deal with challenges and issues which are relevant for management practice.
The literature review has been conducted in a narrative or semi-systematic way (Snyder, 2019). A
substantial set of international literature has been reviewed, but also many pieces of literature
published in German as (i) MC tends to be a phenomenon particularly discussed in a German context,
(ii) MC has a long tradition and is a central discipline in German management and business education
and practice, (iii) there are a number of specialized MC university chairs in Germany and (iv) finally
there can be observed an intensified discussion on the impact of DT on MC and the future development
of the field due to challenges and change imposed by DT. Hence, combining international literature
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and Strategies in the new Era
ISSN: 2547-8516
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and German literature and bringing prior research results published in German language to the
international scholarly debate can be considered as an important contribution to the discussion in the
research field.
As indicated, the results and implications discussed in this research are partly based on the personal
and professional experiences of the authors. To some extent, the research approach applied in this
research is hence inspired by action research oriented research approaches (Wolfram Cox, 2012). Action
research can be understood as an approach that relates to practical questions and challenges of
management and organizations and consequently is very much concerned with understanding the
needs of practitioners (Eriksson and Kovalainen, 2013). There exist a variety of different action research
approaches and orientations (Denis and Lehoux, 2009; Eriksson and Kovalainen, 2013), being distinct
regarding the goal and research process, as usefully summarized by Denis and Lehoux (2009). The
discussion of Eriksson and Kovalainen (2013) exemplifies typically a direct and intense collaboration
between researcher and the research subject, resulting in a specifically solved problem such as an
optimized business process, activities etc. However, while Eden and Huxham (1996) usefully discuss
the very nature of action research and how to conduct rigorous action research, they also indicate that
degree of involvement with the organizations under research vary considerably between a direct
involvement to a general concern to them. According to Denis & Lehoux (2009), based on the writings
of Cullen (1998), the generic properties of action research can be summarized as follows:
-
Close interactions with practitioners
-
Experiential knowledge in order to understand the practical challenges
-
A close connection between objectivity and subjectivity in human action
-
The research has the potential to contribute to the construction of organizational realities
-
Reflexivity as a central aspect when construction new organizational forms or procedures
-
A close link between research practice and the development of new ideas
Given the action research-oriented nature, the authors benefited over the last years from many formal
and informal discussions, with managers, colleagues and clients and the conduction and
implementation of projects and processes in various companies in the domains under research. Hence,
the action research-oriented research approach applied within this research, does not refer to a specific
practical problem in one single organization it includes rather the accumulation of various practical
questions and issues related to the research question and the development of the conceptual
framework. The overall applied research approach can be illustrated as follows:
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and Strategies in the new Era
ISSN: 2547-8516
ISBN: 978-9963-711-90-1
14th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business
Literature review of the impact of
digital transformation on
management control
440
Literature review of
digital transformation
frameworks
Development of a conceptual framework
to control digital transformation
Reflection on professional experience of the authors in the fields of DT and MC:
•
Work, management and consulting experience
•
Continuous exchange with peer colleagues and fellow academics
Figure 1.
Conceptualisation of the research approach
(Source: own illustration)
Given the nature of the research approach, the framework and implications tend to be exploratory
providing avenues for further research and implementation and testing of the suggested framework in
practice. Constant critical evaluation and especially reflexivity (Guillemin and Gillam, 2004) has been
applied throughout the whole research project resulting in intense and lengthy discussions and critical
reflections within the research team in order to ensure the rigor of the research process.
CONTEXTUAL AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Digital Transformation
DT is one of the most important topics for business firms, academia and society in general likewise and
we can observe a considerably increased discussion, which can be exemplified by the momentum of
research output in terms of academic articles (Reis et al., 2018; Hanelt et al., 2020) but also a very intense
practitioner oriented discourse mainly dominated by management consultancies and industry research
institutes (e.g. Accenture, 2020; Gartner, 2020). DT has the potential to fundamentally change the way
how markets and business models are functioning (Matzler et al., 2018; Endres, Stoiber and Wenzl,
2019; Lois et al., 2020) by means of a rapid and disruptive development and change of new digital
technologies (Morabito, 2014; Margiono, 2020) as well as substantial developments of strategic,
organizational and procedural aspects within a business firm to sustain value creation and competitive
advantage in large multinational enterprise and small and medium-sized contextual settings (Cha,
Hwang and Gregor, 2015; Becker and Schmid, 2020; Kindermann et al., 2020; Peter, Kraft and Lindeque,
2020).
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and Strategies in the new Era
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The research field of DT tends to be diverse, fragmented and influenced from various different research
streams. Hence, given the intensified discussion and fragmentation, several scholars have taken stock
of the research field by means of an intense review of the literature (Reis et al., 2018; Hausberg et al.,
2019; Vial, 2019; Hanelt et al., 2020; Nadkarni and Prügl, 2020; Verhoef et al., 2021).
Reis et al. (2018) found that DT definitions can be grouped in distinct understandings, including a (i)
technological, (ii) organizational and (iii) society perspective. For instance, Hess et al. (2016, p. 124) state
that DT “is concerned with the changes that digital technologies can bring about in a company’s
business model, products, processes and organizational structure.” Moreover, Vial (2019, p. 127)
defines DT as “a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant changes to its
properties through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity
technologies”. These exemplary definitions usefully illustrate the very core of DT, as such the impact
on business models, challenging internal organization and procedures and the involvement of new
technologies and IT infrastructure and hence also emphasizes the complexity of phenomena related to
DT.
Many authors emphasize the people and organizational dimension of DT, highlighting the need for
new skills and competencies (Andriole, 2018; van Laar et al., 2018), as well as, new organizational
capabilities and a digital culture (Kohnke, 2017). Besides skill requirements, also new leadership styles
might be required and employees have to be reached at all levels to foster acceptance and adoption of
digital tools (Welch and McAfee, 2013). According to (Hoberg, Krcmar and Welz, 2017), organizations
face the dilemma that digital skills are required before DT projects can actually be started.
According to the conceptual model by Doukidis, Spinellis and Ebert (2020) that was developed by
expanding previously published models (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee, 2014; Sebastian et al., 2017),
DT is made up of four pillars:
-
Customer experience transformation refers to comprehending the needs of customers and
enhancing their experience in a digital sales process;
-
Business processes transformation deals with digitalizing the business processes and improving
performance management;
-
Business model transformation is important to create innovative revenue streams based on digital
activities;
-
organizational transformation that accompanies the business transformation by respective changes
to strategy, organization and workforce.
Synthesis of Management Control
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There does not exist something like a generally accepted definition of MC in literature, rather there can
be found various understandings as indicated by Horváth, Gleich and Seiter (2020) and there exist
similar terms like Controlling, which require some terminological ordering.
According to Weber (2018) controlling primarily is concerned with phenomena related to practical
challenges of business firms, while there indeed can be observed an intense scholarly debate, especially
when looking at recent developments in the context of digitalization and DT, discussions in practice
and academia still seem to be quite separated. The discussion of Grisar and Meyer (2016) indicates that
in a German-speaking context controlling is a term related to terms such as management accounting
and MC and these are frequently used synonymously. Within this research, the term MC will be used
and is from our view very close to the understanding of the German term controlling and shall be
understood in this way. Moreover, there exist various views on MC tasks in literature (Horváth, Gleich
and Seiter, 2020; Preißler, 2020). For instance, Anthony (1965, p. 28) emphasized that „In practice,
people with the title of controller have functions that are, at one extreme, little more than bookkeeping
and, at the other extreme, de facto general management.“ However, besides the philosophical
discussions what MC in detail is and what not, there can be observed an agreement on the very general
understanding of MC including the aspects of planning, steering and monitoring in a continuous and
cybernetic information processing context to support the alignment and focus of an organization to
achieve its goals and strategies (Joos, 2014; Grisar and Meyer, 2016; Reichmann, Kißler and Baumöl,
2017).
A cybernetic nature is at the very core of each MC activity (Grisar and Meyer, 2016; Möller and IllichEdlinger, 2018). According to Möller and Illich-Edlinger (2018) this results in a continuous cycle of
setting objectives, planning and steering activities to achieve the defined objectives. In addition, they
usefully illustrate the major MC processes. These can be illustrated as follows:
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Strategic planning
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Setting
objectives
Planning, budgeting and forecasting
Investment appraisal
Cost accounting
Steering
Management reporting
Business partnering
Project controlling
Risk management
Data management
Planning
Organizational development
Figure 2.
Cybernetic nature of the major MC processes
(Source: adapted from Möller and Illich-Edlinger, 2018)
MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Impact of Digital Transformation on Management Control
With regard to a focus on the MC function and DT there seem to exist a limited number of
comprehensive reviews (Möller, Schäffer and Verbeeten, 2020) and those existing tend to have a
specific focus on, for instance, simulations in MC (Grisar and Meyer, 2016), business intelligence
(Rikhardsson and Yigitbasioglu, 2018) or technology in the context of accounting (Moll and
Yigitbasioglu, 2019).
As indicated above, DT has an immense impact on business and society and given the importance of
transparency on the economic performance of a business firm the impact of DT on MC can be
considered crucial for the long-term existence and competitive situation of a business firm. It is
undisputed that almost all sectors, firms and operations are somehow affected by the developments
triggered by DT. With regard to the MC function, rather from a holistic view point, two major
developments can be currently observed (Schulze, Nasca and Eymers, 2019). There (i) is taking place an
internal change within the MC function initiated by, for instance, new technologies and (ii) DT changes
fundamentally how entire business firms and especially business models work and we experience a
massive success of digital business models. This is accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the MC
function will have to understand these developments in order to be an appropriate business partner for
management. Hence, the MC function is at least challenged in a two-fold way as can be illustrated as
follows:
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and Strategies in the new Era
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14th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business
Transformation within the MC
function (e.g. structure,
processes, technologies) as a
response to the changing
requirements
(Schäffer and Weber, 2019).
444
Transformation of the firm in its
entirety (e.g. organization,
processes and business
model) to provide a superior
customer experience and
sustain competitiveness
(Doukidis, Spinellis and Ebert,
2020).
MC needs to measure the progress towards DT and act as a business partner for
management to accompany the DT of the firm and its business models
Figure 3.
Challenges for the MC function in the context of DT
(Source: own illustration based on the cited literature)
Verhoef et al. (2021) refer to the issue of metrics to evaluate the progress within the DT of a business
firm as well as with regard to business models such as platforms. The above said may refer to the issue
of MC and the role of this functional discipline in managing a firm’s approach towards DT. For
instance, Möller, Schäffer and Verbeeten (2020) pose a number of potential research questions of which
especially the use of MC systems in digital contexts is relevant to this research. Nadkarni and Prügl
(2020) emphasize the increased need for a faster decision-making and strategy implementation at a
managerial level, which elucidates the importance of practical and tailored management instruments
and frameworks.
Recent research confirms that especially aspects in the context of DT are increasingly seen as important
future topics for the controlling function such as information systems, data management or digital
competences (Schäffer and Weber, 2018, 2021). However, a vast majority of firms experiences an
inappropriate preparation to deal with the challenges due to DT (Seufert et al., 2018) and also the digital
divide between digital companies but also within the sphere of traditional companies seems to grow
(Seufert et al., 2020). Irrespectively, whether we talk about a digital revolution or evolution, which
ultimately also depends on the business sector or corporate function (Baumöl, 2016), it is beyond doubt
that DT will continue to change how firms will be managed successfully in the future and this will
continue to have a severe impact on the MC function (Glader and Strömsten, 2020).
However, it is also important to critically reflect on the degree and extent of digitalization and what is
reasonable in this context also from an economic point of view. The benefit of digitalization should be
at the core and not what is technologically possible (Mayer and Wieselhahn, 2018). Moreover, it is
important to keep in mind that the transformation will take time but also needs a proactive and
persistent management (Schäffer and Weber, 2021).
Möller, Schäffer and Verbeeten (2020) argue that there still is limited research on the DT of MC,
especially from an academic point of view and, while there certainly can be observed a considerably
Contemporary Business Concepts
and Strategies in the new Era
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ISBN: 978-9963-711-90-1
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increased output of papers, for instance, in the three German-speaking MC journals (Controlling –
Zeitschrift für erfolgsorientierte Unternehmenssteuerung, Contolling & Management Review and
Controller Magazin), the overall tenor is still very much practitioner oriented as also the active role of
management consultancies indicate (PwC, 2015; Deloitte, 2018; Bearing Point, 2019; KPMG, 2019;
Horváth & Partners, 2020; Accenture, 2021).
There seems to be a lack of frameworks, management approaches or KPI systems which support a
systematic and concise steering of the implementation of DT, as for instance Pampel (2018) emphasizes
that there are few compelling attempts in literature regarding KPIs for digital business models and
Schönbohm and Egle (2017) indicate that traditional KPIs can only be used to a limited extent (see also
Michel, 2017; Sieringhaus, 2019). Given the transformational changes within the MC function and with
regard to firms in general and business models a comprehensive and practical MC framework can be
seen as a crucial issue to manage DT. Möller, Schäffer and Verbeeten (2020, p. 2) state that “an overview
and structuration of the field as well as conceptual ideas and reflection may be required.” Moreover,
very recently Piazza and Abrahamson (2020) conclude their comprehensive literature review that there
is a severe lack of even simple conceptualizations which explain the influence of the digital world on
management practices. Given the research gap with regard to management instruments, the aim of this
research is to develop such a conceptual framework which can be used to manage DT. The next section
continues to critically review a selection of existing frameworks.
Digital Transformation Frameworks
There exist a number of frameworks in the literature with the objective to control and manage the
complexity and various activities related to DT. A systematization and differentiation between the
various types of frameworks, which have different objectives, scopes, underlying methods and cultural
antecedents, depending on the geographical location, might be possible according to the following
basic characteristics:
-
maturity models to evaluate the status quo of DT within an organization and management
frameworks in a more general sense, which base on checklists, refer to the phases of DT or areas
and organizational dimensions, which need to be addressed within the transformation process. In
tendency, frameworks in this category do not include a comprehensive set of potential KPIs (e.g.
Matt, Hess and Benlian, 2015; Berghaus and Back, 2016; Hellge, Schröder and Zink, 2017; Müller,
Schröder and von Thienen, 2018, 2019; Reinhard, Rentz and Sommerfeld, 2020).
-
maturity models with a focus on a specific corporate function, such as with regard to the MC
function (e.g. Koß, 2016; Langmann, 2019).
-
Approaches which solely refer to a set of KPIs, without explicitly offering a management
framework (e.g. Pampel, 2018; Sieringhaus, 2019).
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models offering a comprehensive steering approach based on KPIs to measure the progress
towards DT within various corporate dimensions, internal and external ones (e.g. Schönbohm and
Egle, 2016, 2017) as well as the model developed by Kirchberg and Müller (2016), which has been
extended with KPIs by Schulze, Nasca and Eymers (2018, 2019).
-
Project management approaches (e.g. Neumann, 2016; Kütz, 2017, 2019; Schmid, 2019), which are
not primarily in the scope of this research.
In summary, the critical comparison and evaluation of the considered frameworks illustrate some
deficits of existing approaches for a comprehensive steering approach. In order to be able to
comprehensively control DT it is, from our view, inevitable to have
-
a structured approach covering the diverse dimensions affected by DT
-
a set of well-developed valid key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the progress of DT
activities
THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CONTROL FRAMEWORK (DTCF)
The framework proposed in this section intends to provide a comprehensive approach to manage the
very different facets of DT from a MC point of view. Given the current developmental state of the
research, the framework here is of preliminary nature stimulating reflections, discussions leading to a
further refinement of the framework.
Synthetizing and extending the findings of the literature review, the below described elements can be
derived, which need to be considered in a coherent management approach towards DT from a MC
perspective. The above discussed elements (cybernetic cycle, a MC and company-wide perspective and
individual corporate dimensions) can be combined to the following DT control framework (DTCF):
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and Strategies in the new Era
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Setting
objectives
Strategy
Content
Organization
Steering
Transformation
within the M C
function
Transformation
of the firm in
its entirety
Processes
I nstruments
Stakeholder
People
Planning
Figure 4.
The digital transformation control framework (DTCF)
(Source: own illustration)
The framework addresses the major perspectives and developments within the MC function as well as
with regard to the transformation of the entire firm. As indicated earlier, the MC function is especially
challenged by the developments of DT and will need to transform its organization, processes and the
applied instruments and technologies (e.g. Schäffer and Weber, 2019). Knowledge and competencies of
employees can be considered as a core resource within these developments (Drerup, Suprano and
Wömpener, 2018). In addition to this, the framework aims to cover the transformation of the entire
firm, which leads to a consideration of multiple views and dimensions. This variety and complexity of
the impact of DT on the firm is reflected in the proposal of the seven dimensions, which partly has been
covered already by other models in the context of DT such as the four pillar model developed by
Doukidis, Spinellis and Ebert (2020). It can be argued that managing the development of new digital or
hybrid business models is of particular importance to firms, especially taking into account the recent
developments due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The considered dimensions within the DTCF represent the main areas, which need to be addressed in
the course of DT. It is important to note that not all dimensions may be applicable or need to be
considered within the DT of a specific company or a specific corporate function and hence the
considered dimensions should be tailored to the individual requirements. The derived corporate
dimensions can be briefly described as follows:
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Strategy: A digital strategy needs to be defined and aligned to the overall business strategy. Recent
research indicates that most of the companies show deficits with regard to the formulation of a
digital strategy (Schäffer and Weber, 2018, 2021; Becker and Schmid, 2020).
-
Content: The dimension content is ultimately based on the defined strategy and refers primarily to
the digital or hybrid busines model, including the product or service offered to a customer.
-
Organization: The organization represents the organizational structure and various hierarchies of a
company and how these relate to each other as well as the formal decision paths.
-
Processes: This dimension includes all procedures and processes to serve customer needs, which
may primarily be external but with regard to administrative functions also internal. The quality of
operations can be considered as a key competitive factor within a digital economy.
-
Instruments: Instruments refer to methodologies and methods, such as classic or agile project
management approaches and digital technologies and infrastructure as well as data quality
(Knauer, Nikiforow and Wagener, 2020), which represent the base for the DT of the company.
-
Stakeholder: Refers to all groups of people, which have a legitimate interest in the company
primarily customers, suppliers and other partners such as service provider or freelancer.
Employees are not considered within this dimension.
-
People: Given the central role of employees for a successful DT, they are considered in a specific
dimension covering their digital mindset and knowledge as well as their attitude towards change.
Given the importance of KPIs for a successful management of DT (e.g. Kollmann and Hensellek, 2017;
Pampel, 2018; Reinhard, Rentz and Sommerfeld, 2020), for each relevant dimension a set of coherent
and concise KPIs need to be developed. This can be exemplarily be illustrated for three selected
dimensions as follows. The selection of the dimension is based on the importance of these, especially in
early phases of DT. It is important to note that the final selection of KPIs tends to be individual to each
firm, depending on the industry, the business model and the overall nature of the steering approach.
Strategy
Market, intended
market position
and target group
Processes
Procedures to serve
the customer needs
People
Digital mindset and
knowledge
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Potential number of customers and users, market growth rates, upsell potential
Competition with freeware, service providers, start-ups
Novelty, innovativeness in the field (e.g. position in the product lifecycle)
Quality of operations (customer satisfaction, complaints, number of calls)
Efficiency (response times, Ø lead time to solve calls)
Budget for digital trainings
Training intensity (digital training days / FTE)
Digital competence quota (digital FTE / required digital FTE)
Figure 5.
Exemplary KPIs for selected corporate dimensions of the DTCF
(Source: own illustration)
We believe that the developed framework can contribute to the discussion on how to manage DT
properly, which is an important challenge for all companies and given the pragmatic and practice
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and Strategies in the new Era
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orientation it may especially be applicable to SME contexts, which urgently need appropriate
instruments to manage DT and face distinct challenges (e.g. Gassmann and Keupp, 2007; Pelletier and
Cloutier, 2019; Becker and Schmid, 2020; Garzoni et al., 2020; Peter, Kraft and Lindeque, 2020). The
suggested preliminary framework already shows some advantages over many existing ones, although
the practical implementation needs to be tested and the framework further refined. The following
points, can be seen as some of the advantages, which already can be related to the framework:
-
it may allow a comprehensive steering of DT in various settings and industries
-
it considers a variety of corporate dimensions
-
in its final condition it will offer a comprehensive set of KPIs
-
it might be used in a flexible way
-
it has a more practical look and feel
CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have discussed the implications of DT on MC and presented a framework to control
DT from a MC perspective. The main contribution of our research lies in the integration of knowledge
from the DT and MC domain, taking a new perspective on the topic in order to advance both, the
digital transformation literature, and, the MC discipline. At the same time, we are confident that our
framework may serve as a practical guidance to improve the management and control of DT initiatives
in business firms.
We are aware that our research may have limitations. The framework presented in this paper is of
preliminary nature based on literature review, taking into account the authors’ professional experience.
More research is needed, especially in order to evaluate the framework in terms of further
specifications of its dimensions, as well as, its applicability to practice. To do so, future work should test
the framework in real world settings by applying it to different types of companies and industries, for
example in an action-oriented research design or multiple case study.
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