Aug 2026· International Journal of Engineering Business and Management· Vol 18· 0 citations· 66 references
TL;DR
The study shows that technologies such as gamification, AI-powered chatbots, and virtual and augmented reality can strengthen engagement, learning, and participation when embedded within broader change management processes.
Abstract
In digital transformation contexts, organizational change remains challenging especially when employee resistance is underestimated and change management efforts are fragmented. This study presents a systematic review on organizational change with a focus on resistance dynamics, change management frameworks, and the role of emerging technologies in technology-enabled transformation. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 83 peer-reviewed articles were screened and analyzed using thematic and bibliometric approaches. This review integrates resistance to change, change management models, and digital transformation within a unified socio-technical perspective. The findings show that resistance is shaped by interrelated individual, organizational, and cultural factors. On the other hand, successful transformation is consistently associated with transparent communication, inclusive leadership, psychological safety, and cultural alignment. Moreover, the study shows that technologies such as gamification, AI-powered chatbots, and virtual and augmented reality can strengthen engagement, learning, and participation when embedded within broader change management processes. The bibliometric analysis identifies major intellectual trends, influential contributors, and emerging directions in the field. Overall, the study offers an integrated theoretical and practical foundation for understanding how human and technological factors jointly shape organizational change in digital transformation.
This article explores how digital transformation is reshaping organizations by changing stakeholder roles, organizational structures and ways of working. While both project management and change management are recognized as crucial drivers of transformation, their integration remains insufficiently theorized and empirically examined. The purpose of this study is to investigate how aligning these two disciplines can strengthen stakeholder inclusion and organizational adaptability during digital transformation. By focusing on the cultural, organizational and role-based challenges created by new technologies, the article seeks to uncover the mechanisms through which project and change management are integrated and to identify practical strategies that help organizations successfully navigate and sustain transformation in dynamic, technology-driven environments.
A single case study was employed to explore the digital transformation of tramway operations through the introduction of automatic train operation. Data collection occurred in two rounds: 25 semi-structured interviews in February 2024 and 16 interviews in November 2024. Interviews were recorded, supported by field notes. Workshops with senior management were held to validate preliminary findings and generate further insights. Data was analyzed using NVivo software, combining deductive coding with inductive open coding to identify emergent themes. This process allowed for temporal comparison across interview rounds, enabling the mapping of evolving stakeholder engagement, organizational learning and change management practices.
The findings show that integrating change management and project management enhances stakeholder engagement and organizational adaptability during digital transformation by activating four interrelated mechanisms: transparency, boundary-spanning roles, sensemaking processes and capability-building practices. Change management practices enrich project management by fostering inclusion, trust and responsiveness, while project management provides structure, temporal coordination and procedural clarity. Stakeholder engagement evolves from early resistance to collaborative participation as mechanisms such as ambassador programs, transparent communication and iterative feedback are progressively enacted. Leadership plays a central role in sustaining these mechanisms and in supporting learning-oriented practices.
This study has certain limitations. First, its focus on the railway sector constrains the generalizability of findings, as digital transformation may unfold differently across industries. Future comparative research could broaden and validate these insights. Second, the emphasis on internal stakeholders overlooks perspectives of external groups such as passengers, regulators and communities, whose involvement is crucial for comprehensive stakeholder engagement. Third, the study examines the integration of project and change management but does not consider the role of digital tools in enabling this alignment.
This article provides original contributions by advancing a mechanism-based understanding of how project management and change management are integrated during digital transformation. While prior research has documented the effects of automation on tasks and skills, this study extends existing knowledge by explaining how roles, responsibilities and professional identities evolve through the interaction of structured project execution and change-oriented engagement practices. By capturing stakeholders' lived experiences and tracing how engagement and adaptability develop over time, the article offers both theoretical insight and practical guidance for organizations managing complex, automation-driven transformation initiatives.
Xavier Morin· International Journal of Man...· 0 citations
This study examines how digital transformation prompts technology firms to enhance human resources so employees adapt to technological changes and dynamic business needs. Success in organizational change depends not only on technology adoption but also on transformational leadership, digital competence, adaptive performance, and organizational support. The research analyzes how these four factors interrelate during PT DOT Indonesia's digital transformation using a qualitative case study. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 12 purposively sampled informants (HR Manager, HR Officer, Project Manager, Team Leader, Software Engineer, UI/UX Designer, QA Engineer, Business Analyst, DevOps Engineer, and Mobile Developer). Data analysis followed Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña's interactive model through data condensation, display, and conclusion drawing, with open, axial, and selective coding. Findings show transformational leadership fosters continuous learning through coaching, empowerment, participation, and mentoring. Digital competence grows via self-directed learning, knowledge sharing, and technical mentoring, enhancing employees' ability to handle project changes and technological developments. Adaptive performance appears as flexibility, learning agility, problem-solving, and responsiveness to client needs. Organizational support through training, learning culture, sharing sessions, and collaboration strengthens employee readiness. The study indicates that the synergy among these factors is crucial for navigating digital transformation in technology-based companies.
Syah Abadi Mendrofa, Ferdinand Hasudungan Siagian, Adi Soeprapto et al.· International Journal of Man...· 0 citations
This study aims to examine how public digital transformation (DT) is revealed as a complex adaptive process, focusing on the co-evolution between technological infrastructures and organizational structures in e-government initiatives. Drawing on complexity theory (CT) and the complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective, the research seeks to understand how public administrations restructure their technological and human networks and the drivers of the adaptation process.
An interpretative qualitative study was conducted using a storytelling approach with 39 middle and senior public managers involved in DT projects. Narrative data were analyzed to identify the dynamic mechanisms shaping technology adaptation and organizational restructuring within public institutions.
The findings reveal that public DT operates as a complex socio-technical system characterized by continuous interaction between technological and human networks. Learning processes, communication patterns, innovation practices and knowledge-sharing and acquisition mechanisms emerge as critical attributes that enable adaptive capacity and process. The study highlights how dynamic capabilities foster fluid, self-reinforcing and evolutionary restructuring processes in public digital projects.
The paper provides operational insights for public decision-makers and managers seeking to promote a responsible and adaptive process of technology implementation. It proposes actionable levers to enhance learning ecosystems and strengthen collaborative capabilities within public administrations.
By conceptualizing public DT assimilated to a CAS, this study advances an understanding of technological and human subsystems dynamics in e-government projects and helps bridge CT and public sector DT research. Moreover, building on service ecosystem and open innovation literature, the authors argue that the proposed adaptation model emerges not only from interactions between organizational and technological subsystems but also from continuous exchanges among heterogeneous stakeholders within a multi-actor service ecosystem perspective.
Tharwa Najar, Ibticem Ben Zammel, Wafa Kort· VINE Journal of Information...· 0 citations
Although digital readiness is widely recognized as a prerequisite for digital transformation, existing research predominantly adopts a determinant-based perspective, offering limited insight into how readiness actually emerges within organizations. To address this gap, this study develops a systems-based and process-oriented framework explaining how organizational factors translate into digital readiness in small firms. Drawing on Resource-Advantage Theory and a socio-technical systems perspective, a qualitative cross-cultural multiple-case study was conducted in six small service firms located in Brazil and the United Kingdom. The cross-cultural design enabled the identification of recurring organizational mechanisms across different institutional contexts. The findings reveal that organizational factors such as corporate culture, knowledge management, organizational learning, and leadership do not directly generate digital readiness. Instead, their influence depends on Project Management Capability (PMC), which emerged as the central mechanism coordinating and integrating these resources into coherent digital initiatives. Firms with stronger PMC exhibited more structured and strategically aligned digital transformation trajectories, regardless of resource availability. This study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing digital readiness as an emergent organizational outcome rather than a static condition and by positioning PMC as the critical link between organizational factors and digitally enabled competitive advantage in small firms.
Marina Proença, Carla Alessandra Dos Santos, A. Toaldo et al.· Systems· 0 citations
This study examines how digital transformation is relevant in promoting sustainable working practices and increasing the creativity of employees in organizations. Although there is an increasing use of digital technologies, there is scant research that has taken the interrelation between sustainability, leadership, and organizational culture in motivating workplace innovation, hence generating a research gap. To eliminate this, our study uses a systematic literature review (SLR) approach, which examines 78 peer-reviewed articles (collected through the Scopus database) with the help of structured search strings and the PRISMA instructions. The results indicate that digital transformation, which is helped by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), can positively impact employee innovation but is not implemented effectively due to obstacles like financial limitations, the absence of technologies, and resistance to change. Paper makes a theoretical contribution to the field of sustainability and digital transformation by combining both to create a combined concept of employee innovation, and a practical contribution through providing organizations with ideas on how they can create sustainable digital strategies. The study has weaknesses in its use of secondary data and limited database selection. The empirical methods should be used in future studies to confirm these results in various organizational settings.
Ghousia Jabeen, Rajyalaxmi Muddasani, Laxman Boddu et al.· Corporate Governance and Sus...· 0 citations
Digital transformation in the public sector is a complex and multidimensional change process in which leadership plays a central yet insufficiently mapped role in the literature. This study aims to systematically review the literature on leadership in public sector digital transformation to identify dominant leadership roles, success factors, and barriers. Using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach based on the Scopus database with PRISMA selection flow, this study examined 33 articles from 398 initial records published between 2015 and 2025. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer to map research trends and clusters. The results reveal three main findings: (1) transformational, digital, and strategic leadership are the most dominant roles, forming a complementary triad model; (2) organizational culture, digital capability, and stakeholder engagement are the key determinants of transformation success; and (3) institutional-bureaucratic barriers, leadership capability gaps, and human resource resistance are the most critical challenges. This study concludes that the success of digital transformation in the public sector is not determined by technology investment alone, but by leadership maturity that integrates strategic vision, organizational agility, and public value simultaneously.
Teuku Riefky Harsya, Rian Firmansyah, Tumpal Raines Napitupulu et al.· Greenation International Jou...· 0 citations
We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads.
See our Cookie Policy.
