Guest editorial: Digital transformation strategy and impacts during emergency situations
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-01-2023-814 |
| Published date | 03 February 2023 |
| Date | 03 February 2023 |
| Pages | 1-9 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Samuel Fosso Wamba,Maciel M. Queiroz,Kim Hua Tan,Baofeng Huo |
Guest editorial: Digital
transformation strategy
and impacts during
emergency situations
1. Introduction
The contemporary world faces highly complex and disruptive situations and events affecting
people, organizations and society (G€
um€
usay et al., 2020). For instance, natural disasters and
epidemic outbreaks are challenging organizations at all levels, and these are reacting to such
external constraints by constantly developing and implementing unprecedented strategies
(Fosso Wamba et al., 2021;Queiroz et al., 2022a). Such contexts can generate emergencies,
which are related to events or conditions that offer a potential risk to living beings, the
environment, organizations and society (Fosso Wamba et al., 2021).
In this regard, to face such situations, one of the top-notch arsenals that are taking the
attention of organizations and institutions today is digital transformation (DT). The DT is a
widespread concept that refers to the digitization of activities and the digitalization enabling
improvements in the business processes model by integrating cutting-edge information and
communication technologies (ICTs), people and organizations (Queiroz and Wamba, 2022).
In this respect, DT is capturing the attention of decision-makers and organizations worldwide.
In this vein, decision-makers have understood that DT is a vital weapon to fight against disruptive
situations and events while minimizing their impacts on society. Besides, organizations are
triggering DT to improve their business process and performance, create business value in
challenging times and gain competitive advantage (AlNuaimi et al., 2022;Baptista et al., 2020).
1.1 Aims and scope of the special issue
Although the advances in the DT literature and related fields, more light must be thrown on
the importance, strategies and capabilities of DT during emergencies (Fosso Wamba et al.,
2021). For instance, little is known about its interplay with various problematic contexts, such
as pandemic/epidemic outbreaks, war risks, acts of terrorism, biological and nuclear
accidents, emergencies at sea, flooding, tornados, tsunami, drought, food insecurity, etc.
In line with the interdisciplinarity of the Industrial Management and Data Systems (IMDS)
journal, this Special Issue (SI) was focused on exploring the digital transformation
phenomenon from different angles, with particular attention on the interplay between
operations management, supply chain and information systems related fields, during
emergencies and environmental uncertainty contexts. Thus, this SI aims to inspire debate
and discussion with scholars, practitioners and decision-makers working on governments by
Guest editorial
1
The authors are truly thankful for all involved in this special issue, which resulted from a strong
collaborative effort between scholars and practitioners from different fields, guest editors, reviewers,
associate editors, editors-in-chief, and the managing staff. The authors want to thank all reviewers who
provided fantastic feedback for the authors to develop their papers. Also, the authors want to extend
special thanks to Dr. Alain Yee Loong Chong and Prof Hing Kai Chan, editors-in-chief of the Industrial
Management and Data Systems. Finally, the authors thank Dr. Zhao Cai, Managing Editor, Priya
Sharma, Journal Editorial Office, and all Emerald Publishing staff.
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 123 No. 1, 2023
pp. 1-9
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-01-2023-814
To continue reading
Request your trial