Sustainable Process Innovation and Digital Transformation Linkages: Multiple Case Study Research

Digital technologies have become a crucial resource for achieving organizational goals. The debate on how to exploit and accelerate the digital and sustainability transformation process is at the forefront of major management consultancies’ discussions. Despite sustainability being one of the most rapidly growing phenomena, it is still an area where the application of digital technology is insufficiently discussed. Sustainable process innovation and digital transformation are closely linked, as digital technologies offer a range of opportunities to improve the sustainability of industrial processes. Looking to clarify the linkages between sustainable process innovation and digital transformation, this work analyzes a multiple case study research on the relationship between digitalization and sustainability, guided by the following research questions: how can sustainability improve through digital transformation? How do companies integrate digital technologies into their sustainable process innovation efforts? What are the benefits and challenges of implementing sustainable process innovations with digital technologies? What are the challenges of implementing sustainable process innovations with digital technologies?