Innovation Management System and Digital Transformation: in search of an integrated approach

ABSTRACT

Innovation Management Systems (IMS) have been widely discussed in specialized literature and organizational practice for many years, given their importance for companies to innovate regularly. In parallel, the debate on Digital Transformation (DT) has rapidly emerged, albeit with a distributed nature across various domains (e.g., management, information systems, Industry 4.0), bringing a wealth of perspectives and complexity to understanding the phenomenon. Although both fields are closely related to the dynamics of innovation within companies, an integrated debate is still in its early stages, and the areas continue to follow independent paths. Thus, this study aims to identify points of intersection between IMS and DT and investigates how elements from these approaches can mutually support each other. To this end, we conducted a literature review in each knowledge area and selected the representative models of their constituent parts. After analysis and discussion, we propose a visual model to express potential mutual connections. The main conclusion is that an IMS can guide DT initiatives within the organization by designing structures and processes to deal with highly uncertain projects. On the other hand, one can associate DT with a set of technological tools and organizational trends that can foster enhanced IMSs.

KEYWORDS:
Digital Transformation; Innovation Management Systems; Digital innovation; Digital technologies