Cultural Values in Digital Transformation in a Small Company

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners have found culture to be very important to digital transformation. However, despite the widespread consensus about the importance of culture in successful digital transformations, only a limited number of studies have explicitly focused on the cultural aspects in digital transformation in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). This research investigates and analyses the important cultural values in digital transformation in a small company operating in the IT industry. The findings of this study are nine organisational values, from which eight values show similarities to the existing research. In contrast, the organisational value entitled “affinity towards the organisation” has been identified as a new organisational value in digital transformation in small companies. The identified cultural values can raise the awareness of organisations’ management planning or currently engaged in a digital transformation and help organisations recognise cultural values that can contribute to digital transformation initiatives’ success or failure.