Internal organisational factors enabling digitalisation in South Africa: Evidence from organisations in diverse sectors

Abstract

Background: Digitalisation has become a priority for organisations in their quest to improve service delivery and efficiency, and to increase their market share. To achieve this, organisations need to assess their strength in handling digitalisation demands by giving attention to internal organisational factors that serve as foundational to enabling successful digitalisation.
Objectives: This study empirically investigates internal organisational factors, specifically organisational capability (OrgCap), organisational structure (OrgStru), human resource transformation (HRTrans) and change management (ChanMag), as enablers of digitalisation in South African organisations.
Method: A quantitative study approach was used to collect data from 111 HR professionals, operational managers, and employees within finance, manufacturing, and retail organisations listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa, using a survey with a questionnaire and a combination of purposeful, convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 31 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows [Version 31.0], IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, United States), was used to process and analyse data using descriptive analysis, Pearson Product-Moment correlations and One-Sample t-tests.
Results: The findings revealed that OrgCap, OrgStru, ChanMag and HRTrans significantly foster digitalisation in organisations. Collectively, these factors comprise an integrated internal digital ecosystem that enables digitalisation.
Conclusion: Critical internal organisational factors need to be considered in the planning and implementation of digitalisation within organisations.
Contribution: Scientific knowledge is advanced by underlining the critical role played by internal organisational factors in the successful digitalisation within South African organisations. The study presents organisational change leaders with actionable insights into factors supporting organisational digitalisation.