Digital transformation and its impact on IT structure and leadership

Abstract

With digital transformation attracting increasing attention, our study is motivated by a need to under- stand the impact of digitalisation on the transformation of the Information Technology (IT) function in pre-digital organisations. In particular, in this paper, we present a qualitative study that aims to ex- amine how digital transformation influences the organisational structure and leadership of the IT function in pre-digital organisations. The empirical study is based on a series of semi-structured in- terviews with digital leaders across a range of organisations and sectors in the UK and Scandinavia. We find four different setups both in terms of structure and leadership for the IT function following digital transformation initiatives. The study has both theoretical and practical implications on the management of digital transformation and IT function.