Digital technologies and social sustainability in the digital transformation age: a systematic analysis and research agenda

• Date: 07 November 2024
• Pages: 142-169
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-08-2024-0239
• Published date: 07 November 2024
• Subject Matter: Economics,Social economics
• Author: Usman Ahmad Qadri,Mazuri Binti Abd Ghani,Ulfat Abbas,Abdul Rauf Kashif

Digital technologies and social

sustainability in the digital

transformation age: a systematic

analysis and research agenda

Usman Ahmad Qadri and Mazuri Binti Abd Ghani

Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin,

Kuala Nerus, Malaysia

Ulfat Abbas

Institute of Business Management and Administrative Sciences,

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and

Abdul Rauf Kashif

Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Southern Punjab,

Multan, Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose –This paper aimsto systematically review the constructiveeffects of digital transformation (DT) on

social sustainability, examining its impact across democracy and governance,social cohesion, quality of life,

equality and diversity. It emphasizes the need for appropriate frameworks that incorporate DT strategies in

organizationalpractices to improve social sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach –A systematic literature review was carried out through Webof Science

and Scopus databases to identify the distinctive papers that explored the impact of DT on social

sustainability. It analyzes how various digital technologies, like Internet of Things, cloud computing and

mobile computing, can be strategically embedded in organizational practices to optimize social

sustainability outcomes.

Findings –This study reveals that although DT signif‌icantly enhances operationalcapabilities and consumer

experiences, its integration into social sustainability practices is often overlooked. It proposes a novel

framework that aligns digital capabilities with sustainability goals, aiming to enrich organizational

performance and societal welfare. This paper identif‌ies dynamic capabilities as crucial for sustaining

competitiveadvantage in a digitally transformed businesslandscape.

Research limitations/implications –The primary limitation is the relianceon secondary data, which may

not fully capture the rapid advancementsin DT. Future research should focus on empirical studiesto validate

the proposed framework and explore the dynamic capabilities required for integrating DT in social

sustainabilitypractices.

Originality/value –This study extendsthe discourse on DT by linking it explicitly with social sustainability,

presenting a structuredanalysis that highlights the need for strategic integration of digital technologieswithin

organizationalsustainability practices. It f‌ills a gap in the literature by proposinga comprehensive framework

Conf‌lict of interest: The authors declare no conf‌lict of interest.

Funding disclosure: The authors also declare that no external funding was received for the research

presented in this publication.

Data availability: Data will be made available on specif‌ic requests.

IJOES

41,1

142

Received14 August 2024

Revised3 S eptember2024

Accepted18 September 2024

InternationalJournal of Ethics and

Systems

Vol.41 No. 1, 2025

pp. 142-169

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2514-9369

DOI 10.1108/IJOES-08-2024-0239

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9369.htm

for organizationsto follow, thereby contributing to the theoreticaland practical understanding of DT’srolein

enhancingsocial sustainability.

Keywords Digital transformation, Social sustainability, Internet of Things (IoT),

Democracy and governance, Social cohesion, Quality of life, equality and diversity

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

In recent years, the concept of digital transformation (DT) has gained signif‌icant

attention across various sectors due to its profound impact on operational processes,

business models and market structures (Holzinger et al., 2021;Mondejar et al., 2021;

Khan et al., 2024). DT refers to integrating digital technology into all business areas,

fundamentally changing how organizations operate and deliver customer value

(Bologa et al., 2017). Similarly, DT can meet the needs of the United Nations

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (Ziadlou, 2021). In the age of digital

revolution, DT is a new way of doing business using digital technologies, such as

robotics, cloud, social and mobile computing and analytics, leading to signif‌icant

advances in consumer experiences and operational capabilities (Yaqub and Alsabban,

2023). DT has encouraged new business models that have disrupted global

marketplaces and businesses (Brenner, 2018). As a result, traditional businesses have

been shattered by the shock waves of DT, resulting from the entry of digitally savvy

f‌irms (Maley et al., 2024;Rahi et al., 2019). For instance, LinkedIn is the world’smost

popular online social networking site for job seekers (Navallas et al., 2024). Amazon,

the world’s largest bookseller, is a software company (Cabezas-Clavijo et al., 2024).

Google is the world’s largest online pure-play advertising company.These disruptions

apply through digital technologies, i.e. cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), big data,

machine learning, social and mobile computing (Manzoor et al., 2024). It has been

noted that the impact of DT is far-reaching and extends beyond customer behavior or

companies to other domains, such as social dynamics and health care (Aldoseri et al.,

2024). In addition, the DT is expected tocorrect the sustainability triangle, i.e. social

sustainability (Yu en et al., 2024). Although digital technologies are primarily

eff‌icient, other factors have enabledDT (Gillani et al ., 2024).These include consumer

attitudes and expectations, data availability and digitalcompetition (Kao et al., 2024;

Khan et al., 2022). In addition, advances in digital technology improve human rights,

child labor and sustainable education (Aldoseri et al., 2024;Ramaano, 2022a,2022b,

2022c,2022d). Therefore, more comprehensive studies are needed to understand

better the effects of DT on different topics that have been overlooked in the literature,

such as the inf‌luence on children, society, gender equality and human rights.

Protecting human rights against abuse by those who are more powerful, as well as

community-based health care, is a top challenge and requires more DT attention

(Kickbusch et al., 2021).

While digital technologies have profoundly enhanced various aspects of social

sustainability (Weber et al.,2022;Xiao and Su, 2022), a distinct gap exists in

comprehensively understanding and integrating these advancements within organizational

strategies to optimize their potential (Groenewald et al., 2024). This research identif‌ies a

crucial research gap in the systematic integration of DT strategies with social sustainability

goals within organizations. Existing literature primarily explores the benef‌its and

applications of digital technologiessuch as the IoT, cloud computing and mobile computing

on dimensions like democracy, social cohesion and quality of life. However, there needs to

International

Journal of Ethics

and Systems

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