In an era where digital disruption is no longer a possibility but a norm, understanding how digital innovation reshapes management and business is critical. The recent article by Dejan Uršič and Tomaž Čater (2025), published in the Journal of Business Research, offers one of the most comprehensive syntheses of digital innovation literature to date. Combining bibliometric analysis, topic modeling, and qualitative synthesis, the authors not only chart the field’s intellectual terrain but also provide a robust multi-level framework and research agenda for future studies.
What Makes This Study Stand Out?: Unlike previous reviews that either focused on narrow sectors (e.g., SMEs, AI, supply chains) or treated digital innovation as a secondary element of digital transformation, this paper constructs a panoramic view. Analyzing 684 top-tier articles from 1994 to 2024, the authors identify three foundational domains:
- Digital Transformation
- Digital Platform Ecosystems
- Digital Innovation Foundations
They then uncover ten current and emerging topics, ranging from digital business model innovation to digital innovation adoption. These were derived from rigorous bibliographic coupling and topic modeling using LDA (in both R and Python), ensuring a high level of objectivity and granularity.
Theoretical Innovation: The CMO Framework
A major theoretical contribution is the proposed Contextual Conditions – Mechanisms – Outcomes (CMO) multi-level framework. Spanning individual, organizational, and industry levels, this structure helps explain how digital innovation emerges and unfolds through interconnected layers:
- Contextual Conditions like employee digital skills, strategic orientation, or regulatory environments;
- Mechanisms such as open innovation, dynamic capabilities, or human-AI collaboration;
- Outcomes including new digital services, transformed business models, or ecosystem-wide shifts.
This integrative lens helps overcome fragmentation in the literature and brings conceptual coherence to the otherwise siloed discussions.
Emerging Theories and Gaps: The study observes a theoretical shift toward knowledge-based views, service-dominant logic, network effects, and sociotechnical systems. Notably, it critiques earlier research for underemphasizing human factors and psychological dynamics in digital adoption. As a corrective, the authors advocate for incorporating behavioral science, organizational psychology, and sustainability into future digital innovation research.
Future Research Hotspots
Three future directions stand out:
- AI-Driven Innovation: What roles do AI capabilities and human-AI collaboration play across different stages of innovation?
- Digital Sustainability: How do digital initiatives contribute to ESG outcomes and long-term ecological value?
- Behavioral and Psychological Dimensions: How do emotion, resistance, motivation, and cognition shape digital innovation outcomes?
Conclusion
This article is more than a review—it’s a call to reframe how we conceptualize digital innovation. For scholars and practitioners alike, Uršič and Čater offer a roadmap that not only captures the complexity of the present but also anticipates the contours of the digital future.
Reference:
Uršič, D., & Čater, T. (2025). Digital innovation in management and business: A comprehensive review, multi-level framework, and future research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 197, 115475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115475
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