Managerial capabilities as facilitators of digital transformation? Dynamic managerial capabilities as antecedents to digital business model transformation and firm performance

Abstract

Digital business model transformation (DBMT) necessitates new managerial capabilities, yet the existing literature lacks an empirical understanding of managerial capabilities as antecedents to strategic change and firm performance. This paper builds on dynamic managerial capabilities theory to argue that managerial human capital—composed of leadership and entrepreneurial skills—is a critical facilitator of DBMT and resultant firm performance. Further, the research model proposes that managers' social capital and cognition positively moderate the relationship between human capital and DBMT. The study's findings from a sample of German Industry 4.0 firms provide new insights into the significance of managerial capabilities in a digital economy. This study advances management literature by demonstrating that the benefits of managers' human capital for DBMT are contingent on its form: entrepreneurial skills facilitate digital transformation integral for firm performance, while leadership skills have no impact on firm performance—neither directly nor indirectly through DBMT. Thus, this study provides strong evidence of the importance of entrepreneurial skills in driving DBMT to increase firm performance. Further, the findings offer a nuanced account of the interrelationships between dynamic managerial capabilities, revealing that higher levels of social capital and lower levels of cognition increase the positive effect of entrepreneurial skills on DBMT. This study altogether reaffirms the significance of managers' dynamic capabilities for strategic change enabled by DBMT and their performance benefits, yet it reveals that the effect mechanisms differ from those found in nondigital research settings.