Exploring the cultural foundations of digital innovation in tourism: a conceptual framework

Vlad Diaconescu (), Gabriela Èšigu () and Cristina-Mirabela Malaia ()
Additional contact information
Vlad Diaconescu: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania
Gabriela Èšigu: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania
Cristina-Mirabela Malaia: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul, 2025, vol. 31, issue 1

Abstract: The digital transformation of the tourism industry presents both significant opportunities and complex challenges for companies seeking to enhance competitiveness. This study explores the role of organizational culture in shaping how tourism firms adopt and implement digital innovation. A conceptual framework is proposed, grounded in the Competing Values Framework (CVF), which categorizes organizational cultures into Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy types. The framework highlights how these cultural dimensions affect the integration of digital tools, market adaptability, and organizational performance. Drawing on a theoretical synthesis of the literature on culture and innovation in tourism, the study conducts an exploratory analysis of ten tourism companies. The findings suggest that organizational culture is a key enabler of digital transformation, although the small sample prevents statistical generalization. Companies with adhocracy-oriented cultures showed the highest digitalization scores, while hierarchical cultures lagged behind. Moreover, people-oriented leadership emerged as a positive moderator of digital innovation adoption, whereas task-oriented leadership had no significant influence. These preliminary results underscore the importance of aligning culture and leadership style with digital transformation goals. The paper offers both theoretical contributions and practical implications by linking cultural attributes with technology-driven strategic development. For tourism managers, understanding these dynamics can inform more effective digital strategies. The study also opens new avenues for future empirical research to validate and refine the proposed model across broader samples and diverse tourism contexts. Overall, it provides a foundation for further inquiry into how organizational culture and leadership styles can support digital modernization in tourism.

Keywords: organizational culture; digitalization; tourism industry; Competing Values Framework; organizational leadership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 M14 O14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://cactus-journal-of-tourism.ase.ro/wp-conten ... Diaconescu-et-al.pdf (application/pdf)

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:bum:cactus:cactus-2025-5

Access Statistics for this article

CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul is currently edited by CACTUS Editorial Team

More articles in CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul from Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CACTUS Editorial Team ().