Navigating Digital Transformation through an Information Quality Strategy: Evidence from a Military Organization

Abstract

The use of digital technologies for extracting information from various data sources can help organizations to reduce uncertainty and improve decision-making. The increasing availability in volume, velocity, and variety of data, however, can give rise to significant risks and challenges in ensuring a high level of information quality (IQ). Pre-digital organizations can be particularly susceptive to such challenges due to their limited experience with digital technologies and IQ governance. We adopt a theory-infused interventionist research approach to assist a pre-digital multinational military organization in navigating its digital transformation (DT) by focusing on IQ. We design and implement an IQ strategy (IQS) by drawing upon organizational information processing theory and examining how the level of IQ can affect the balance between information processing requirements and capacity. We demonstrate that an IQS that incorporates both technological, as well as IQ governance solutions, can support organizations in setting the scope of their DT, decreasing employees’ resistance to change, and increasing their satisfaction, while concurrently improving organizational efficiency. Our work stresses the importance of IQ in the digital era and delineates how pre-digital organizations can navigate DT by strategically addressing IQ.