IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijimxx/v29y2025i05n06ns1363919625400067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Top Management As An Enabler Of Firms’ Sustainable And Digital Transformation: A Literature Review And Research Agenda For Twin Transformation

Author

Listed:
  • ANNINA AHRENS

    (University of Bayreuth, Faculty of Law, Business and Economics, Chair of International Management, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany)

  • TIM HEUBECK

    (University of Bayreuth, Faculty of Law, Business and Economics, Chair of International Management, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany)

Abstract

In response to today’s complex challenges, firms are increasingly compelled to pursue sustainable and digital transformations in tandem. While the role of top management in these areas is recognised in isolation, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis on how they facilitate the intertwined process of twin transformation, where sustainable and digital initiatives are mutually dependent. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review to synthesise current knowledge on top managers’ enabling role in twin transformation and propose a future research agenda through this analysis. Through our analysis of 48 articles, we identified three key enablers — human capital, leadership, and governance — that drive twin transformation across different levels of top management, including executive, board, and ownership tiers. This review highlights the crucial influence of top management in successfully navigating twin transformation and reveals significant research gaps, offering a solid foundation for future studies in this emerging field.

Suggested Citation

  • Annina Ahrens & Tim Heubeck, 2025. "Top Management As An Enabler Of Firms’ Sustainable And Digital Transformation: A Literature Review And Research Agenda For Twin Transformation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 29(05n06), pages 1-36, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:29:y:2025:i:05n06:n:s1363919625400067
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919625400067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919625400067
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1363919625400067?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:29:y:2025:i:05n06:n:s1363919625400067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.