Digital dynamic capabilities for digital transformation in SMEs : A qualitative case study across multiple industries

Digital advancements are creating increasingly strong external triggers on multiple industries for organizations to achieve strategic renewal through digital transformation. At the heart of this digital transformation lies the capabilities which the organization possesses. The digital dynamic capabilities highlight what capabilities organizations require for said change. This qualitative study examines how digital dynamic capabilities affect digital transformation processes in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) across multiple industries. The thesis accomplishes this by utilizing the digital dynamic capabilities framework and applying it to six different SMEs from different industries. The results show a connection between the digital dynamic capabilities and successful strategic renewal. Furthermore, our findings confirm that digital dynamic capabilities are a process-model, meaning it must be built or used in linear fashion over time for strategic renewal. The thesis also contributes practically by showing how digital dynamic capabilities can be used by managers as a practical tool to evaluate, oversee, and implement digital dynamic capabilities to enhance digital transformation processes in SMEs. Lastly, our empirical findings reveal an additional fourth internal barrier of contentment in the theoretical framework