Explaining Digital Transformation's Performance Effects: A Meta-Analytic Integration

Digital transformation (DT) has become a critical driver of firm performance, enabling organizations to enhance operational efficiency, foster innovation, and strengthen customer engagement. However, despite its potential, the performance outcomes of DT vary significantly across contexts, highlighting the need to better understand the factors that shape this relationship. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV) and institutional theory, this study examines how the configuration of DT strategies, defined by technology type (incremental vs. disruptive), scope (organization-wide vs. department-wide), and strategic orientation (impact-driven vs. effort-driven), moderates the DT-performance relationship. Additionally, we explore how institutional factors, including education level, internet penetration, power distance, rule of law, and economic growth, condition the effectiveness of DT. Using a meta-analytic approach, we synthesize 783 effect size estimates from 225 empirical studies conducted across 36 countries. This study contributes to the literature by integrating strategic and contextual perspectives to explain heterogeneity in DT outcomes. Practically, the findings offer evidence-based guidance on how firms can strategically configure digital initiatives and align them with institutional environments to enhance firm performance.