The relationship of digital transformation and corporate sustainability: Synergies and tensions

Abstract

Scholars within management disciplines have shown a growing interest in digital transformation and sustainability phenomena to address global societal challenges. Indeed, previous studies have investigated the initial analysis of the intersection between these two emerging and intertwined topics. However, there has been no comprehensive or critical analysis of the relationships among these concepts. Nevertheless, a clear understanding of this phenomenon is key to developing rigorous and meaningful knowledge and enabling future research. Our critical review analyses 91 articles on digital transformation and sustainability research to address this issue. The findings propose a synthesis of the definition types of digital transformation and sustainability in four categories, from which only 16 articles show a relationship between both concepts. This study theoretically contributes to management research by uncovering issues and assumptions around the conceptualizations of digital transformation and sustainability at the corporate level. By doing so, we present a consolidation of conceived knowledge and clarify these interrelated concepts. Moreover, understanding and assessing these relationships will lead to a future research agenda and implications for practitioners.