This study explores how digital transformation can promote organizational resilience when incumbent firms face crises. We examine the intersection of digital transformation and resilience-seeking processes through two longitudinal case studies of incumbent firms designated as “essential businesses” during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze 72 crisis adaptations the firms implemented during the crisis to understand how previously underutilized digital capabilities upgraded each firm's ability to adapt to mitigate stakeholder risks and engage in resilience-seeking rather than advantage- or opportunity-seeking. We identify five digital capabilities—virtual access, virtual collaboration, data-driven decision-making, algorithmic reprogrammability, and assisted decision-making—that arose from technologies acquired to enable digital transformation before the crisis. We discuss the concept of resilience opportunities and contribute to the literatures on digital transformation and organizational resilience.

中文翻译：

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升级适应性：数字化转型如何提升组织弹性

本研究探讨了当现有企业面临危机时，数字化转型如何提高组织弹性。我们通过对 COVID-19 大流行期间被指定为“基本业务”的现有公司的两个纵向案例研究，研究了数字化转型和寻求复原力过程的交叉点。我们分析了企业在危机期间实施的 72 项危机适应措施，以了解以前未充分利用的数字能力如何提升每家企业的适应能力，以减轻利益相关者的风险，并寻求弹性，而不是寻求优势或机会。我们确定了五种数字能力——虚拟访问、虚拟协作、数据驱动的决策、算法可重编程性和辅助决策——这些能力源于危机前为实现数字化转型而获得的技术。我们讨论弹性机会的概念，并为有关数字化转型和组织弹性的文献做出贡献。