Where Is the Age of Digitalization Heading? The Meaning, Characteristics, and Implications of Contemporary Digital Transformation

Seunghyun Kim, Byungchul Choi and Yong Kyu Lew
Additional contact information
Seunghyun Kim: Science and Technology Policy Institute, Sejong 30147, Korea
Byungchul Choi: HUFS Business School, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul 02450, Korea
Yong Kyu Lew: HUFS Business School, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul 02450, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: Digital transformation is perceived not only as a change in certain technology but also as a large transition that will ultimately change our lives for the better. Industry convergence, the key to digital transformation, entails, for firms, both various opportunities for innovation and the crisis of falling behind. Therefore, from the perspective of firms, it is critical to examine how digital transformation affects their industries and products as well as how they perceive and respond to digital transformation. This is ultimately a matter of how firms survive and maintain sustainable growth in this great upheaval of digital transformation. Based on the understanding of the concept of digital transformation, this study explores how high-growth firms perceive various aspects of digital transformation. The findings show that digital transformation involves a change of firms based on constant innovation, not simply the acceptance of technology, and that there is a large digital divide that depends on the firm size and industry type. Based on the above, this study derives implications in terms of the innovation activities of firms to ensure that digital transformation does not serve as a handicap and barrier for firms.

Keywords: digital transformation; high-growth firm; firm size; industry heterogeneity; Korea; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/8909/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/8909/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8909-:d:611157

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().