Business Ethics and Leadership (Oct 2024)
The Business Leadership of the State-Owned Enterprises: Impact of the Digital Transformations
Abstract
The article explores the digital transformation of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) through a bibliometric analysis. The study analyses the scientific literature to understand the current trends, challenges, and emerging themes surrounding the digitalization of SOEs across various industries. Digital transformation, which involves integrating technologies like AI, IoT, and big data, is crucial for improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring sustainability in such key sectors as energy, transportation, and telecommunications, where SOEs often play a pivotal role. The research uses bibliometric tools, specifically Scopus and the Biblioshiny App, to map out the literature on digital transformation in SOEs, analyze keywords, and identify thematic clusters in the body of research. The study highlights the significant publication growth, particularly from 2018 onwards, and points to digital transformation, corporate governance, and green innovation as dominant research themes. These themes illustrate how SOEs leverage digital technologies to improve service delivery, increase transparency, and meet environmental targets. The study observed a rapid increase in research output related to SOE digital transformation, particularly from 2020 to 2023. The leading contributors were journals such as Finance Research Letters, Sustainability (Switzerland), and Technological Forecasting and Social Change. The central themes of the analyzed publications included digital transformation, corporate governance, green innovation, and environmental performance. These were classified as “motor themes” due to their high centrality and well-developed nature, indicating their pivotal role in SOE research. The analysis revealed strong links between keywords such as digital transformation, information asymmetry, and innovation. These connections highlight the critical role of digital technologies in enhancing transparency, efficiency, and sustainability within SOEs. The study reveals that the digital transformation of SOEs is a critical area of research, with a growing emphasis on sustainability and innovation. The analysis underscores the need for further studies on the financial impacts of digitalization, the role of government policies, and cross-country comparisons to fully understand how different regulatory and economic environments influence the digital transformation processes in SOEs. By leveraging emerging technologies, SOEs can better align with national digital strategies and contribute to broader policy goals such as energy efficiency and inclusive growth.
Keywords
