Digital Transformation of Engineering Companies

Project description

Digital technologies hold the potential for fundamentally transforming both single companies and entire industries. This is especially true for the traditional engineering sector. Established engineering-centered companies, for example in the automotive industry or in the area of measurement and process technologies, generally have a strong technology focus. However, their expertise to date has not primarily been on digital solutions. Rather software and digital technologies have played subsidiary and supportive roles in their daily business. New digital technology developments offer them a whole variety of avenues for digital innovations, such as novel digital product features, services, processes, or entirely new business models. Meeting this potential means challenging the established setting and embracing transformation.

While digital innovations offer new possibilities, the digital transformation of traditional engineering companies potentially brings about far-reaching changes at various organizational levels. Digital transformation goes far beyond simply implementing new digital technologies – it affects the entire organization.

Combining sociological and economic perspectives, this interdisciplinary research project investigates the organizational implications of digital transformation in engineering companies. Central to the research is the question of how companies navigate internal tensions – such as between tradition and innovation, between engineering culture and software thinking, or between leadership and participation. We analyze how digital transformation impacts organizations, and how companies can proactively address challenges such as resistance, role conflicts, or uncertainty. The project aims not only to deepen the understanding of digital transformation in established companies but also to offer practical insights and orientational knowledge for practitioners involved in shaping digital transformation processes.

Three sub-projects delve deeper into key aspects of digital transformation in engineering companies:

Sub-Project 1: Digital Transformation – A Question of Identity
The digital transformation of established engineering companies affects not only technological aspects but the organization as a whole. It strikes at the very core of the company and sparks fundamental questions, such as: “Who are we—and who do we want to be in the future?”. Dealing with the identity question is highly relevant in the course of digital transformation since it not only affects the public image, but also influences the organisational members’ actions and identification. Digital transformation thus becomes a question of identity. We seekt to understand how this transformation unfolds in the interplay between organizational legacy and orientation towards the future. Against this backdrop, we explore the role of organizational identity in digital transformation.
Our studies show that digital transformation and organizational identity are mutually interdependent. On the one hand, the organizational identity serves as s frame of reference and orientation through which provides a point of departure—it serves as a reference and orientation framework through which the potential of digital technologies is recognized and evaluated. It defines what is regarded as relevant, feasible, or even desirable – and in doing so, it becomes a decisive force in how digital transformation takes shape. Organizational identity, thus, can enable or hinder change processes and strongly influences how digital transformation is realized.
On the other hand, transformation processes themselves question the established organizational identity and spark a collective (re-)negotiation process about the company’s future organizational identity.
Sub-Project 2: Engineers in the Digital Transformation – Digital Transformation as a Threat to Engineers’ Professional Identity
Engineering has traditionally formed the core of successful engineering firms—symbolizing stability, precision, and technical excellence. Yet, as digital technologies and software expertise become increasingly central, long-established professional roles and identities are being challenged.
We examine the evolving dynamics between traditional engineers and software experts, unpacking resulting tensions and shifts in power, and how these influence a company’s digital transformation. In this context, digital transformation becomes a threat to engineers’ professional identity, sparking a renegotiation of professional boundaries, competencies, and status.
Sub-Project 3: Digital Transformation as a Balancing Act between Participation and Leadership
The holistic and far-reaching changes brought about by digital transformation often lead to uncertainty, potentially fueling resistances and internal frictions. Such dynamics may significantly hinder transformation efforts or even lead to a complete failure. Actively involving employees is therefore critical – not only for gaining acceptance, but as a way to enable identification with digital transformation and cultivating shared ownership of the change to ensure its success.
In this sub-project, we examine how companies can meaningfully involve their employees in digital transformation processes. We assume that successful and sustainable digital transformation requires both active employee participation and clear, guiding leadership. On one hand, employee involvement is essential for integrating their experience, practical knowledge, and perspectives into the process – ensuring that the transformation is feasible in day-to-day operations and increasing willingness to embrace change. On the other hand, such far-reaching changes must also be strategically guided. Only through clear leadership can overarching goals, consistency, and direction be ensured, while avoiding uncertainty or overwhelm due to unclear expectations. Thus, digital transformation becomes a delicate balancing act between participation and leadership – one that must be consciously and deliberately shaped.