Research demonstrates that digital technologies stimulate industrial transformation by enabling new interdependencies with firms outside and across firm and industry boundaries. However, we know little about the degree of novelty and breadth of digital technologies that have the potential to transform industries. Understanding the degree of novelty (spanning from radical to incremental) and breadth (spanning from one sector to multiple sectors) of digital technologies is important for measuring their impact on industrial transformation. Through a topic modelling research approach on autonomous vehicle technology patents from firms operating in Sweden and a confirmatory survey with the inventors of those patents, this paper reveals 26 digital technology topics that are transforming the automotive industry. The digital technology topics are distributed across four ideal-typical technology categories for transformation: augmenting, spanning, transforming, and disrupting. This study illustrates the value of studying digital technologies’ transformative nature using an integrating framework; it reveals that digital technologies in the automotive industry have mainly incremental characteristics but that these characteristics provide necessary preconditions for the few more radical technologies to achieve their potential in transforming the industry.

Consider an interorganizational open innovation project, in which different organizations cooperate to generate value for clients or to solve a technological problem. In this setting, both the focal firm and the partners face uncertainties over time (e.g., technological uncertainties, market uncertainties) and, therefore, the performance of the focal firm and the overall interorganizational project depend on that firm's ability to assess potential uncertainties. The process of diffusion of a particular uncertainty throughout an inter-organizational project can be defined as uncertainty propagation. Assessment of uncertainty propagation can be employed to mitigate its detrimental impact. This paper connects previous studies of open innovation, uncertainty management and project management by providing a comprehensive, but structured, framework to assess uncertainty propagation. First, we propose the underlying causes of uncertainty propagation. Then, we present the three different approaches to its assessment, based on causes, effects and protection.

This paper investigates technology strategy in subsidiaries of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets and suggests implications for subsidiary upgrading in Global Value Chains (GVCs). Technology strategy is delineated by the MNE subsidiary's manufacturing orientation (local or global) and knowledge transfer type (uni-directional or multi-directional). Drawing upon a multiple case study of seven of the largest Brazilian subsidiaries of Swedish MNEs, the study identifies four different MNE technology strategy types: 1) technical; 2) improvement; 3) development; and 4) creation. The findings suggest that technology strategy influences subsidiary upgrading through development of operational and dynamic capabilities.

For over two centuries, technology has reshaped professional work. In most cases, these changes were positive as they have created new areas of work for professions and destroyed relatively few. Recently, however, technological change i.e. digitalization has also negatively impacted professionals with numerous professions, such as journalist, doctors, accountants. While research has extensively focused on digital technologies, per se, research has ignored its effect on the agents implementing technologies i.e. professionals. We suggest that organizing digitalization involves not only recombining physical and digital technologies but also reconstructing institutional professions. We use a comparative case study of two of the oldest Swedish newspaper companies to present: 1) two paths to build digital capabilities i.e. building digital capabilities or acquiring digital capabilities and 2) detail a change in the professional practices. Our results portray how digitalization changed professionals from doing occupational tasks to build collaborative relations with other professions.