Why does an incumbent like Kodak, despite investing early in digital technology, still fail to create and capture value? We argue that Kodak’s fate exemplifies a canonical paradox of digital transformation (DT) because its organisational identity, strategy, and technology imperatives were not aligned. While research in information systems, strategy, and organisation theory has long emphasised these three imperatives independently, we lack a DT-specific synthesis that explains how they become aligned or drift into misalignment. To address this gap, we reframe DT as a Design-Logic Alignment (DLA) problem. Based on a comprehensive review of DT research, we first develop a DLA framework that conceptualises DT as an ongoing process of aligning technology, strategy, and identity. We then identify a set of causal mechanisms that account for when and how such alignment or misalignment occurs and consolidate them in a summary table as a mid-range theoretical lens on DT. Finally, we apply the DLA framework in a qualitative meta-analysis of the extensive literature on Kodak, tracing distinct transformation modes, entry points across the three imperatives, and how the mechanisms manifest across episodes of its trajectory. Together, these contributions offer an integrated, multi-imperative process analysis and a more actionable diagnostic for understanding and managing DT success or failure.
Organizations confronting persistent digital turbulence require more than linear transformation roadmaps; they need a coherent configuration of organizational capabilities that explains how digital initiatives generate value. Drawing on dynamic capabilities theory and insights from 28 executive focus-group sessions involving 128 managers, this study develops and tests an integrative framework in which organizational agility acts as an initiating capability that enables the emergence of a firm-wide digital orientation and the development of digital capabilities. Acting in tandem, these complementary capabilities form a mediating pathway through which agility is translated into effective digital transformation and, ultimately, superior firm performance. The framework is empirically validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with survey data from 153 Spanish firms across manufacturing, services, and the public sector. The results show that agility fosters both digital orientation and digital capabilities, and that these capabilities jointly drive digital transformation, leading to improved competitive outcomes. By empirically substantiating this capability configuration, the study advances the digital transformation literature from a focus on isolated competencies to a process-based and configurational explanation of how value is created. The paper concludes with implications for senior executives and directions for future research on the evolution of capability bundles over time.
Open source software (OSS) ecosystems consist of projects that compete for volunteer developers who divide their attention across projects. Multi-project involvement makes it challenging for a focal project to attract a critical mass of volunteers to make long-term continued code contributions. Adopting a context-specific theorizing approach, we extend established OSS motivation literature to the multi-project context by examining how developers' continued focal project contributions are affected by the relative attractiveness of competing projects with which they are concurrently involved. Specifically, we focus on two well-established extrinsic motivators, developer status and project success, and examine how their relative values across a developer's project portfolio influence continued contribution to a focal project. Using data from 2931 volunteer developers affiliated with 445 focal projects and 4448 competing projects hosted on Google Code, we find that developers' continued contribution to a focal project is heightened when they have lower relative status in competing projects and when competing projects have lower relative success than the focal project. Asymmetrically, we also find that continued contribution to the focal project is not diminished when developers have higher relative status in competing projects or when those projects are more successful than the focal project. These findings extend work on continued contribution by highlighting the multi-project embedded nature of work performed in OSS ecosystems and have important implications for understanding developer retention across projects.
Mobile apps are frequently updated with new features, yet it remains unclear whether frequent feature releases enhance or undermine user satisfaction. Existing research often emphasizes user resistance to change, suggesting that rapid feature introduction can disrupt routines and provoke negative reactions. Drawing on adaptive systems theory, this study conceptualizes app updates as a co-evolving adaptive process and examines how the frequency of feature releases interacts with performance improvements and generational innovation to shape user satisfaction. Using data on 3427 apps from Apple's App Store, we find that more frequent feature releases are associated with higher user satisfaction. This positive effect is amplified when feature updates involve substantial, next-generation improvements and when performance enhancements keep pace with functionality growth. In contrast, when apps introduce new features rapidly without corresponding performance improvements or meaningful innovation, frequent updates yield little benefit for user satisfaction. This study contributes to research on app update strategy and digital product evolution by demonstrating that frequent feature releases can enhance user satisfaction when supported by performance reliability or substantial innovation. More broadly, our findings advance adaptive systems theory by showing how distinct modes of digital adaptation jointly shape user outcomes.
Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are multisensory wearable devices that deliver immersive virtual, augmented, or mixed reality (VR, AR, MR) experiences and offer organizations numerous strategic advantages. As a result, there is a growing interest in utilizing HMDs across various industries, with healthcare being the most prominent. HMD-based immersive systems can enhance clinical decision-making and care delivery, while supporting the unobtrusive collection of physiological and behavioral data that serve as important indicators of intervention effectiveness and user well-being. While HMDs offer numerous benefits, their full potential can only be realized when they are implemented effectively. To address this need, we conducted an integrative review of literature reviews on HMD-based immersive systems in healthcare settings to identify the key determinants, strategies, and outcomes associated with successful implementation. Grounded in implementation science, and specifically the Conceptual Model of Implementation Research (CMIR), the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework, and the determinants of innovation, we developed an integrated framework for implementing HMD-based immersive systems in healthcare. The framework clarifies how multilevel determinants of medical technology adoption, organizational strategies, and diverse outcomes interact across implementation phases and provides a roadmap for the strategic integration of HMD-based immersive systems into healthcare workflows. Our findings challenge techno-optimistic assumptions by showing that successful implementation depends on the alignment among individual, organizational, innovation-related, and environmental determinants, the strategies through which these determinants are translated into practice, and implementation, service, and client outcomes. We further introduce biomarker outcomes as a novel category that enables data-driven evaluation and adaptive intervention management.
