PurposeThis paper shows how the interplay between organisational resilience and environmental complexity justifies the existence of differentiated yet successful approaches to digital transformation.Design/methodology/approachA multi-case method is applied to test our research hypotheses by contrasting the digital transformation of three Italian companies in the valves industry.FindingsDifferent combinations of technological and organisational tools, hence diversified digital transformations, can be successful, provided that they are supported by a coherent set of resilience factors and allow for the implementation of strategic approaches aligned with the resilience capacity of the firm.Practical implicationsAwareness that resilience capacity shapes digital transformation and the strategies available to engage with external complexity should focus managers to invest in the alignment and the reinforcement of the factors underlying organisational resilience.Originality/valueMost literature so far focused on the antecedents to digital transformation. In contrast, this paper focuses on the transformation process and highlights how the resilience capacity of the firm affects the unfolding of digital transformation and the emergence of diversified yet successful paths. In addition, in contrast with a dichotomous approach to external complexity this paper shows that digital transformation involves a mix of complexity reduction and complexity absorption strategies.

Il contributo mette in discussione l'esistenza di una one best way verso la digitalizzazione, contrapponendo due casi di successo relativi ad aziende manifatturiere italiane di medie dimensioni. Entrambe le aziende, che vantano eccellenti prestazioni tecnologiche ed economiche, hanno lanciato importanti progetti basati sulle tec¬nologie digitali. Mentre però la prima azienda sembra percepire la digitalizzazione come un ulteriore passo nella sequenza "tradizionale" di innovazioni tecnologiche finalizzate a sostituire il lavoro umano, la seconda azienda pone un'enfasi esplicita sulle tecnologie di¬gitali quali veicoli per perseguire una maggiore integrazione dei processi, il cui successo è reso possibile dal ricorso a specifici strumenti organizzativi formali per la gestione del cambiamento.

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Many problems that decision makers have to solve concern strategic environments. In such situations, the structural uncertainty they must face is overcome by using their representations of reality: people take decisions on the basis of their cognitive maps. In collective high level decision-making, conflicts can rise among different frames and definitions of the problem. The process through which the actors can reach a joint solution has a bargaining nature. The decision-makers' cognitive maps contain, besides the personal view of the prcblem to be solved, the perception of the position and bargaining power of the other actors. Strategic moves (commitments, threats ...) can modify the partners' perceptions of the possibilities of success of their policy. As such, the decision-makers' cognitive maps finally become "complementary", permitting an agreement.