Organisational capabilities for successful digital transformation: a global analysis of national football associations in the digital age

PurposeThe aim of this study is to identify organisational capabilities (OC) for a successful digital transformation (DT) and associated structures of internal teams to orchestrate and support DT.Design/methodology/approachAn explorative, qualitative study, comprising semi-structured interviews with 82 executives from 43 diverse National Football Associations (NFA) spread across five continents was conducted.FindingsThe results show that organisational culture, strategic sensitivity, up-to-date ICT-infrastructure, a digitally skilled workforce, leadership support, knowledge management and internal DT-teams are important capabilities to enable successful DT.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the different levels of maturity of digitalisation and the financial constraints, not every NFA intends or is able to assign a full-time staff member exclusively to digital issues. Therefore, the most appropriate person was interviewed in each NFA.Practical implicationsAdapting an organisational culture to the requirements of the digital age is one of the most important steps in implementing DT. It is equally important for the leadership to form the strategic framework and enable the necessary training of employees to improve the results of the digitalisation processes.Originality/valueThis is the first study investigating NFA's DT from a worldwide perspective, identifying the most important factors for successful DT-processes.