Beyond the hype: A bibliometric analysis deconstructing research on digitalization

Abstract

The accelerating emergent field of research addressing digitalization and related topics is complex, unstructured and hyped. Consequently, both research and practice lack a rigorous foundation of prior published research to underpin and direct future exploration into the opportunities and challenges provided by these exciting new digital technologies. This study employed a bibliometric analysis to explore extant published research within the digitalization field. We identified key articles that have enabled us to distinguish between interrelated digitalization concepts. Subsequently, we propose a taxonomy with characteristics for different levels of digitalization. The taxonomy contributes with dimensions that create different commercial and organizational opportunities and challenges at the different levels. The taxonomy offers a vantage point for subsequent empirical and conceptual research to extend insight on related digitalization themes, and especially related to innovation and strategy decisions on scalability, automation, channel selection and connectivity.