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Digital Transformation in Work Integration Social Enterprises: Leadership Strategies and the Role of Internal Stakeholders
Maiolini, Riccardo
D'Alessandro, Federica Landoni, Paolo
D'Alessandro, Federica
Landoni, Paolo
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Abstract
Digital transformation is increasingly reshaping how social enterprises organize work, engage stakeholders, and pursue social value. While prior research has examined digitalization in hybrid organizations, limited attention has been paid to how responsibility for inclusive digital transformation is enacted internally. Focusing on work integration social enterprises (WISEs), this study conceptualizes digital transformation as a form of responsible and inclusive organizational change, in which technological innovation must be aligned with social responsibility toward vulnerable internal stakeholders. Drawing on 73 qualitative case studies from 13 European countries, we adopt a persona-based analytical approach to examine how different internal actors experience, enable, or constrain digital transformation processes. Our findings identify three strategic capabilities—inclusive leadership for digital change, strategic flexibility for inclusive innovation, and inclusive and accessible human-centered digital strategy—and show how these capabilities are enacted through distinct internal stakeholder personas. By integrating digital transformation research with a human-centered and responsibility-oriented perspective, this study contributes to the literature by explaining how inclusive digital transformation depends on the alignment between leadership strategies and the lived experiences of internal stakeholders in hybrid organizations.
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Date
2026
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Keywords
Digital transformation, Inclusive leadership, Leadership strategies, Stakeholder personas, WISEs, Work integration social enterprises
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Maiolini, Riccardo, Federica D’Alessandro, and Paolo Landoni. “Digital Transformation in Work Integration Social Enterprises: Leadership Strategies and the Role of Internal Stakeholders.” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 2026.
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Attribution 4.0 International