Digital transformation in SMEs: a person-centric view on the path to sustainability

Abstract

Despite the growing challenges related to digital transformation and sustainability, literature offers limited solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for managing these issues concurrently. To bridge this gap, this paper draws on the dynamic capabilities view to explore how a person-centric view contributes to addressing digital transformation and sustainability in SMEs. Case studies were conducted on three SMEs in the Basque manufacturing industry. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, followed by a thematic analysis. Findings indicate that SMEs effectively adopting a person-centric view on their digital transformation are more successful in achieving sustainability. This study offers a novel contribution to the literature on the person-centric view on digital transformation for sustainability. It provides empirical evidence for proposing a conceptual framework that identifies and concedes different prominence to the critical dynamic capabilities driving digital transformation, considers the three dimensions of sustainability and recognises a cyclical feedback loop between social sustainability and dynamic capabilities.