Exploring the role of organizational capabilities in successful digital transformation and firm competitiveness: A validated framework

Organizations confronting persistent digital turbulence require more than linear transformation roadmaps; they need a coherent configuration of organizational capabilities that explains how digital initiatives generate value. Drawing on dynamic capabilities theory and insights from 28 executive focus-group sessions involving 128 managers, this study develops and tests an integrative framework in which organizational agility acts as an initiating capability that enables the emergence of a firm-wide digital orientation and the development of digital capabilities. Acting in tandem, these complementary capabilities form a mediating pathway through which agility is translated into effective digital transformation and, ultimately, superior firm performance. The framework is empirically validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with survey data from 153 Spanish firms across manufacturing, services, and the public sector. The results show that agility fosters both digital orientation and digital capabilities, and that these capabilities jointly drive digital transformation, leading to improved competitive outcomes. By empirically substantiating this capability configuration, the study advances the digital transformation literature from a focus on isolated competencies to a process-based and configurational explanation of how value is created. The paper concludes with implications for senior executives and directions for future research on the evolution of capability bundles over time.