# A Systematic Review of Digital Transformation Literature (2013-2021) and the development of an overarching apriori model to guide future research

**Authors:** Mekhala Egodawele, Darshana Sedera, Vinh Bui  
**arXiv:** [2212.03867](https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.03867)  
**Date:** 2022-12-07  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2212.03867v1/

## Key points

- The paper presents a systematic literature review of digital transformation in business organizations.
- 174 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2013 and 2021 were analyzed from over thirty leading academic outlets.
- The authors provide a consolidated nomological net model to address the issue of loosely defined constructs, confusion in terminology, and lack of an overarching framework that compromise the cumulative tradition of research on digital transformation.
- The methodology section outlines the research protocol used to select relevant articles for analysis.
- Articles published before January 2013 or after December 2021, non-English language articles, conference proceedings, book reviews, dissertations, case studies and books were excluded from analysis.
- The results section analyzes publication trends from 2014 to 2021 across different themes related to digital transformation.
- The authors categorize articles into predetermined themes based on their understanding of current theories and variables using Mayring's structuring content analysis approach.
- The conclusion section summarizes key observations from the study and derives an a-priori nomological net model for digital transformation.
- Finally, the concluding section discusses limitations, practical implications and avenues for future research related to the study.

## Summary

The paper presents a systematic literature review of digital transformation in business organizations, analyzing 174 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2013 and 2021 in over thirty leading academic outlets. To address the issue of loosely defined constructs, confusion in terminology and lack of an overarching framework that compromise the cumulative tradition of research on digital transformation, the authors provide a consolidated nomological net model by synthesizing themes and dominant theories apparent in existing digital transformation literature. The methodology section outlines the research protocol used to select relevant articles for analysis. The authors identified research objectives and developed a literature review protocol featuring criteria for document selection based on past discussions and scope of the review. Articles published before January 2013 or after December 2021, non-English language articles, conference proceedings, book reviews, dissertations, case studies and books were excluded from analysis. The authors selected papers published in reputable journals using the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) rankings list and Scimago classification as guidelines. The results section analyzes publication trends from 2014 to 2021 across different themes related to digital transformation. The authors categorize articles into predetermined themes based on their understanding of current theories and variables using Mayring's structuring content analysis approach. They follow five steps: developing a category system according to research questions; coding relevant passages in text as per category system; revising previously developed classification framework; coding text according to revised category system; interpreting and discussing findings. The conclusion section summarizes key observations from the study and derives an a-priori nomological net model for digital transformation. Finally, the concluding section discusses limitations, practical implications and avenues for future research related to the study. Overall, this paper provides valuable insights into digital transformation literature by consolidating various themes and dominant theories into a comprehensive nomological net model that can guide future academic studies in this field.