TY - JOUR

T1 - Beyond Digital vs. IT

T2 - The Untold Story of Their Relationship from an Organizing Logic Perspective

AU - Baiyere, Abayomi

AU - Zimmer, Markus Philipp

AU - Staykova, Kalina Stefanova

AU - Jöhnk, Jan

PY - 2025/4/15

Y1 - 2025/4/15

N2 - Digital and information technology (IT) are two concepts that scholars and practitioners use to refer to organizing around technology. Although some consider these concepts synonymous, others consider them distinct. Relatedly, both digital and IT units are increasingly found in many organizations aiming to incorporate digital technologies into their customer offerings and operational processes. This coexistence suggests a qualitative difference in the underpinning logic of organizing around digital and IT. Although prior studies have focused on exploring how digital and IT are conceptually distinct, there is an acknowledgment that they coexist as vocabulary in practice. Indeed, not only do digital and IT coexist, they also interact, giving rise to relationships that have hitherto remained untheorized. We depart from the focus on digital versus IT and take a digital cum IT perspective to uncover these relationships and their implications for organizing around technology. Building on an organizing logic perspective, we synthesize prior literature into a conceptual framework to empirically investigate interactions between digital and IT units in three ethnographic studies of digital transformation. From this, we identify and theorize three relationships between digital and IT—interdepending, interlocking, and interfacing—and further explain why these relationships emerge and how they manifest in different dynamics. The resulting theorizing informs a research agenda for understanding the relational nature of organizing around technology.

AB - Digital and information technology (IT) are two concepts that scholars and practitioners use to refer to organizing around technology. Although some consider these concepts synonymous, others consider them distinct. Relatedly, both digital and IT units are increasingly found in many organizations aiming to incorporate digital technologies into their customer offerings and operational processes. This coexistence suggests a qualitative difference in the underpinning logic of organizing around digital and IT. Although prior studies have focused on exploring how digital and IT are conceptually distinct, there is an acknowledgment that they coexist as vocabulary in practice. Indeed, not only do digital and IT coexist, they also interact, giving rise to relationships that have hitherto remained untheorized. We depart from the focus on digital versus IT and take a digital cum IT perspective to uncover these relationships and their implications for organizing around technology. Building on an organizing logic perspective, we synthesize prior literature into a conceptual framework to empirically investigate interactions between digital and IT units in three ethnographic studies of digital transformation. From this, we identify and theorize three relationships between digital and IT—interdepending, interlocking, and interfacing—and further explain why these relationships emerge and how they manifest in different dynamics. The resulting theorizing informs a research agenda for understanding the relational nature of organizing around technology.

KW - Business informatics

KW - Digital and IT

KW - Organizing Logic

KW - Relationships

KW - Conceptual Clarity

KW - Multiple Case Studies

KW - Ethnographic Research

KW - Conceptual Delineation

KW - Digital Transformation

KW - Management studies

KW - Organizing Logic

KW - Conceptual Clarity

KW - Relationships

KW - Ethnographic Research

KW - Conceptual Delineation

KW - Digital Transformation

KW - Multiple Case Studies

UR - https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/isre.2021.0230

U2 - 10.1287/isre.2021.0230

DO - 10.1287/isre.2021.0230

M3 - Journal articles

JO - Information Systems Research

JF - Information Systems Research

SN - 1047-7047

ER -