Uses and Challenges of Digital Technologies in Business: A Multi Case-Study Approach

Digital technology (DT) is essential to today’s market and has been becoming a significant part of business revolution. Despite the importance of digital transformation (DT) in business, its complexity makes it challenging for companies to fully comprehend and take advantage of its opportunities. As marketing is crucial for connecting firms with the market, it is vital to examine the impact of DT on marketing strategies to determine how they are being utilized. The primary objective is to understand the complex relationship between digital technology and marketing by studying how marketing processes can leverage it and how it can enhance the value creation process in relation to marketing functions. In particular, the contribution of this present exploratory study is twofold. Firstly, the present study differs from previous research in that it regards marketing as a comprehensive process and strategy, therefore creating an integrated view of the impact of digital technology. Secondly, the study recognizes the possible DT obstacles and risks that companies face and how they try to overcome such barriers. Regarding these obstacles and risks, we draw valuable recommendations for both policy makers and managers. The current findings indicate significant changes in the roles of marketing and related activities management and have revealed that although digital technologies often fall into the classification of traditional tools, they are widely adopted by firms, indicating that businesses are becoming more ‘digitalized’ than ‘digitally transformed’. Moreover, managerial repercussions and research are deliberated with consideration of the major risks and obstacles that are involved in the execution of DT. Future studies may use wider and more extensive samples representing various geographical regions to validate the results.