Mohammadi, S.; Heidari, A.; Navkhsi, J. Proposing a Framework for the Digital Transformation Maturity of Electronic Sports Businesses in Developing Countries. Sustainability2023, 15, 12354.
Mohammadi, S.; Heidari, A.; Navkhsi, J. Proposing a Framework for the Digital Transformation Maturity of Electronic Sports Businesses in Developing Countries. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12354.
Mohammadi, S.; Heidari, A.; Navkhsi, J. Proposing a Framework for the Digital Transformation Maturity of Electronic Sports Businesses in Developing Countries. Sustainability2023, 15, 12354.
Mohammadi, S.; Heidari, A.; Navkhsi, J. Proposing a Framework for the Digital Transformation Maturity of Electronic Sports Businesses in Developing Countries. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12354.
Abstract
Digital transformation has become the top priority for 80% of sports companies worldwide, but statistics show that between 70% and 95% of all digital transformation projects fail due to signif-icant and varied challenges that sports companies face during the process of digital transfor-mation. This is because strategy, not digital technology, drives digital transformation, and suc-cess is unlikely without a mature digital transformation model. Moreover, the digital transfor-mation model of developing and emerging markets is not the same and cannot be adopted as a blueprint. Therefore, the aim of this research was to propose a framework for the digital trans-formation maturity of esports businesses in developing and emerging markets. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 15 stakeholders of esports businesses in Iran. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews, and three main perspectives were identified: (1) enablers, (2) digital resilience and capabilities, and (3) digital transformation ma-turity stages. The enablers were formed by six sub-themes, including governance and leader-ship, strategy, culture and skills, innovation, technology, and data. Digital resilience and capa-bilities were formed by four sub-themes, including business model and ecosystem, digital cus-tomer experience, digital employee experience, and digital processes. Additionally, it was found that digital transformation maturity stages are based on four stages of digital beginners, digital followers, digital conservatives, and digital leaders. The findings indicate that moving towards digital transformation and achieving digital resilience in esports businesses will be impossible without synergy between enablers and digital resilience and capabilities. This framework can be useful for esports businesses to evaluate their current digital status and effectively guide them towards a desirable digital status. Furthermore, esports businesses can prioritize their efforts and resources for digital transformation by focusing on targeted capabilities and enablers and ensure more effective and efficient allocation of resources towards digital transformation.
Keywords
digital transformation; digital maturity; esports businesses; digital resilience; thematic analysis
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
