Essays on digital transformation in service industries : how to make sense of and act in a highly dynamic and ambiguous environment?

The socio-technical process of digital transformation calls for a change in our thinking as individuals and organizations. Business leaders in service industries must deal with a highly dynamic and ambiguous environment, as digital technologies promise to dramatically alter the entire institutional context by influencing the demands, behaviors, practices, values, and relations of and between various actors in the markets. As the digital transformation is a phenomenon neither adequately theorized nor sufficiently researched, this dissertation features studies conducted in service industries across various countries to uncover the digital transformation's inter-disciplinary nature, to substantiate its mechanisms, and to reveal its effects on market structures, competitive landscapes, and organizations. The objective is twofold: First is to establish the digital transformation as a unique phenomenon and second is to increase the understanding of specific issues involved in the context of digital transformation. In light of the pursuit to model the new problem space as a unique phenomenon, Part II aggregates various perspectives on digital transformation from different research domains, complemented by empirical findings, into a normative framework and thus meets the research demand for a holistic conceptualization of the phenomenon. Parts III-V include empirical studies, each attributed to a different level of effects (i.e., market level, inter-firm level, and intra-firm level) and contributing to different literature streams. Part III addresses market-level effects and examines the consequences of consumer empowerment on the consumer-service provider relationship. Part IV explores new venture development (inter-firm level), applying a co-creative customer value proposition evolution logic of new ventures and consumers. Part V examines a central aspect of the intra-firm level effects: the change leadership mechanism in organizations.