Digital transformation and organizational co-evolution: An empirical analysis of the Italian museum sector

The thesis provides a longitudinal empirical analysis of the processes of organizational co-evolution enabled by digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector in Italy. In particular, the thesis looks at changes in the performance of the most important Italian cultural organizations by analyzing - in historical series - the technological, organizational and strategic changes pursued from 2011 to 2019. To conduct this analysis a unique dataset was used, built ad-hoc for this study that aggregates ISTAT and Mibact data from 2011 to 2019. The thesis aims to understand how cultural organizations need to configure their activities and enabling technologies, to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in an environment characterized by strong organizational complexity. The following analysis was conducted using a fuzzy-set, the so-called fuzzy-set Qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. Using a configurational approach, this method allows you to understand the non-linear interdependencies between the main digital and organizational characteristics. The novelty aspect of this thesis work consists in moving the empirical investigation from the analysis of the effects of individual variables (OLS approach) to configurations of variables (QCA approach typically used to analyze complex and interdependent phenomena). The QCA approach allows a holistic understanding of the role of technologies and organizational skills within cultural organizations. The study contributes to the literature on "Technology and Organizing" providing a "recipe" of technological, strategic and organizational variables aimed at maximizing the performance of Italian cultural organizations in the field of cultural heritage. With some limitations, the study also provides a set of prescriptions on how such results can be generalized to other creative industries.