The Characteristics of Digital

Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation:

A Systematic Literature Review

Joshua Antonizzi and Hanlie Smuts(&)

Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

u15052682@tuks.co.za, hanlie.smuts@up.ac.za

Abstract. The characteristics of digital entrepreneurship and digital transfor-

mation and how they are related, is complex and important to understand in this
digital age. Such an understanding of digital entrepreneurship is perceived as a
key pillar for economic growth, job creation and innovation. However, a number
of issues regarding digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation are
prevalent, inhibiting digital entrepreneurs to optimise the advantages that digital
entrepreneurship contributes towards business value. Therefore, the aim of this
research paper is to investigate digital entrepreneurship and digital transforma-
tion, their characteristics and inter-relationships. Data extracted and analysed
through a structured analysis process, recognises and discusses the character-
istics of digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation. The characteristics
are reported by employing the Dynamic Capabilities Theory as the structure. By
understanding the characteristics of digital entrepreneurship and digital trans-
formation, individuals and organisations may either create new business ven-
tures or transform existing businesses through the development of novel digital
technologies or the innovative application of such technologies.

Keywords: Digital entrepreneurship
Digital transformation

1 Introduction

Entrepreneurship, in its simplest form, can be described as self-employment [1]. Digital

entrepreneurship, on the other hand, diverges from this definition seeing as it involves
entrepreneurial pursuits which occur on a digital platform [2]. Digital entrepreneurs
have a reliance on digital media tools and Information Technology (IT) in the pursuit of
entrepreneurial prospects [2]. Digital entrepreneurship ensues when an asset owned by
a business, a service performed by a business or a fundamental element of a business
has been digitised [3]. Digital entrepreneurship expands on the traditional notion of
entrepreneurship in the sense that it includes a set of participants which is constantly
evolving and is highly diverse [4]. This moves away from the traditional, established
participant to a more ever-changing assemblage of participants who possess their own,
and differing, competencies, aspirations, and, ultimately, purposes [3, 4].
Furthermore, digital entrepreneurship is deeply entrenched in digital opportunity
[5]. The rate of technological development is at an all-time, ever-increasing high, and

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Published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
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240 J. Antonizzi and H. Smuts

digital entrepreneurs are mindful of the opportunities that this growth is creating [5, 6].
To capitalise on these opportunities, entrepreneurs are looking towards digital trans-
formation. Digital transformation can be defined as companies who alter their opera-
tions, and, in broader terms, it can also refer to the persistent change of our civilization
through the use of technology [6, 7]. Digital transformation involves the redesign of
business practices to incorporate digital technology within all facets of the business [7].
Digital entrepreneurs are offered significant opportunity through the use of digital
networking capabilities. These opportunities present themselves through users of dig-
ital mediums who can now be offered support, can respond to messages and can offer
constructive criticism and suggestions which organisations can utilize [3].
However, there are a number of concerns surrounding digital entrepreneurship and
digital transformation. Using business processes and capabilities to achieve the wants
of customers is of paramount importance to up-and-coming companies and their digital
entrepreneurs [3, 8]. Digitisation spanning all functions and operations of a business
can be considered more and more difficult the larger the organisation [3, 8]. The
practice of large companies updating obsolete and outdated business systems to
modernized, digital systems can be problematic owing to the irregularities found within
these systems [9]. Other challenges related to digital transformation point to occur-
rences where existing business models generate sufficient profit to ward off the need for
establishing new, digitised products and services for clients to purchase [10].
Consequently, the main purpose of this study is to explore the following primary
research question: “What are the characteristics of the relationship between digital
entrepreneurship and digital transformation?” By considering such a digital
entrepreneurship scope, digital entrepreneurs may optimise the advantages that digital
transformation brings towards achieving business value.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: in Sect. 2 we provide the
background to the study presenting an overview of digital entrepreneurship (Sect. 2.1),
digital transformation (Sect. 2.2), and their interrelationship (Sect. 2.3). The approach
to this study is discussed in Sect. 3, where after we provide an overview of the findings
in Sect. 4. In Sect. 5, we present the framework for digital entrepreneurship enabled
through digital transformation and we conclude the study in Sect. 6.

2 Background

The nature of digital entrepreneurship based businesses is that of both IT and traditional
business knowledge. This translates to entrepreneurs requiring both technical and
business-related knowledge and skills, which is a duel-mastery, and not easily acquired
[11, 12]. Two types of entrepreneurs are prevalent [11, 13]. The first type of entre-
preneur is that of the research-based entrepreneur that commercialises original tech-
nological discoveries. The second kind of entrepreneur is an imitative entrepreneur that
develops present markets by assembling available organisational resources [13]. Digital
entrepreneurs have been found to have a reliance on digital media tools and Infor-
mation Technology (IT) in the pursuit of entrepreneurial prospects [11]. As a result, the
digital economy is suffering as digital entrepreneurs are intensifying the rivalries
between industry participants [14]. This means that digital entrepreneurs can fall within
 The Characteristics of Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation 241

the classification of research-based or imitation entrepreneurs, who simply make use of

digital media in the pursuit of other, broader entrepreneurial opportunities [11, 12].
Scholars cite a number of barriers that prevent this pursuit of entrepreneurial
opportunities; excessive amounts of data which cannot be properly processed, a distinct
lack of training on business knowledge and digital skills, disproportionate competition
and competitor-drenched markets as well as a lack of investor interest or inability to
attain capital [15]. Finally, exorbitant cost to start-up and the inability to keep up with
disruption factors and costs, needs to be addressed when considering digital
entrepreneurship [15, 16].
In the next sections we explore digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation
in more detail, as well as the relationship between these two concepts.

2.1 Digital Entrepreneurship

Digital entrepreneurship can be defined as entrepreneurial opportunities being created
and pursued through the use of technological platforms and other information com-
municating equipment [2, 14]. Therefore, digital entrepreneurship may fall within
many categories of business [1, 5]. As technology advances and cultivates, so too will
these categories (e.g. marketing, sales, products, distribution, stakeholder management,
operations) and new categories can potentially be fashioned [1, 11].
Another characteristic regarding digital entrepreneurship is that it is multi-faceted
and is a combination of business-, knowledge- and institutional entrepreneurship
working symbiotically [14]. Business entrepreneurship is a form of entrepreneurship
which is most commonly heard-of and discussed. It explains the practice of seeking out
or identifying business opportunities which can be exploited [17]. These practices
include new product or service creation, raw material identification and use, new
industry creation, new forms of business and more [18]. Knowledge entrepreneurship
is categorised by the identification and quest for information or knowledge-based
prospects and encompasses the expansion of existing knowledge-bases as well as the
development of new ones [19]. Institutional entrepreneurship characterises the actions
of entrepreneurs who make use of resources in the pursuit of creating new organisations
or upgrading old ones [20]. Digital entrepreneurship is subsequently a combination of
the above three entrepreneurial practices. Digital entrepreneurs synergistically combine
business, institutional and knowledge entrepreneurship and this combination forms the
basis of being able to take traditional practices, such as the business categories listed
above, and alter them digitally [14, 21].
Owing to the fact that digital entrepreneurship is fundamentally based on digital
enablement, digital transformation is presented in the next section.

2.2 Digital Transformation

All around the world, companies across all industries are comprehending the impor-
tance of digital transformation to the sustainability of their profits and their continued
existence and prosperity [6]. Therefore, business functions, such as sales, marketing,
human resources, operations, finance, research and development and customer support
need to be transformed into the digital environment [7]. Gale and Aarons [22] studied
242 J. Antonizzi and H. Smuts

companies which had undergone digital transformation and found that they are able to
gain competitive advantages by simultaneously lowering their expenses, innovating
and becoming more organized and competent. Additionally, true mastery of an
organisation’s supply-chain activities will arise from digital transformation [23]. As a
result of this digital transformation necessity, companies need to design and create
strategies in order to make digital transformation possible [6, 7]. A digital business
strategy can be described as a corporate strategy designed, created and implemented
making use of digital resources to create new and unexploited worth [24].
There are 4 interrelated business transformation strategies, namely: use of tech-
nologies, changes in value creation, structural changes as well as financial aspects [25,
26]. Use of technologies speaks to an organisation’s technological drive and desire to
transform and determines an organisation’s opinions about a new IT factor, as well as
that particular organisation’s willingness and capacity to use it. Changes in value
creation describes the effect of digital transformation strategies on the value chains,
which presently existed within an organisation and determines the level at which the
digitised processes are different from the existing, traditional methods. Structural
changes form the foundation of an organisation’s ability to transform digitally and
make use of new technologies to change their value creation, while financial aspects
refers to the requirement of funding and capital that is required for digital transfor-
mation to take place [25, 26].
Much like the relationship between the above four strategies, digital transformation
has a strong, growing relation with digital entrepreneurship. This relationship is
explored in the following section.

2.3 Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation

Interrelationship
In order to understand the difference between digital entrepreneurship and digital
transformation, the supply-side and the demand-side of entrepreneurship needs to be
clarified [27]. The supply-side of entrepreneurship encompasses the human element of
entrepreneurship. That is, the people who are suitable to take-on entrepreneurial roles
and positions. The demand-side encompasses those aforementioned positions; new
positions which are available to those entrepreneurs who are willing and able to fill
them [27]. This typifies the necessary and present relationship between digital
entrepreneurship and digital transformation - digital entrepreneurs can take on roles and
responsibilities created through digital transformation, or could create digital trans-
formation themselves [21]. As a result, new disruptive growth for businesses leads to
an increase in opportunity for digital entrepreneurs.
Two strategies were developed towards growing new disruptive businesses [28]:
firstly, creating a new market as the foundation for the disruption and secondly, dis-
rupting business models which are held by industry leaders. New market creation
involves identifying a product or service which satisfies a need which people have, but
neither have the time, the energy, the drive nor the resources to do it. It is less
complicated and more cost-effective to attract customers who are purchasing nothing
than it is to poach or sway customers who are loyal to existing companies or
 The Characteristics of Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation 243

competitors. Disrupting business models propose that if a new market cannot be cre-
ated, an alternative possibility is to enter an existing market and to disrupt it instead
[28].
The next section presents an overview of the research methodology followed for
this research paper.

3 Research Approach

The objective of this paper is to investigate digital entrepreneurship and digital

transformation, their characteristics and inter-relationships. In order to achieve this
objective, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted in order to provide a
thorough, impartial amalgam of a number of studies relevant to the topic being
researched, collated within one document [29]. An SLR process comprises of 3 con-
secutive stages: (1) planning, (2) execution and (3) result analysis [30]. Planning
involves defining the research objectives and the manner in which the review will be
carried out. Execution points to the study selection and the data collection, while result
analysis encompasses the data synthesis and results discussion [29, 30]. The planning
phase was guided by the aim of the research study, namely, to propose a digital
entrepreneurship framework enabled by digital transformation. Technical reports,
academic books and specific scientific databases were chosen for the SLR process. The
sources considered are shown in Table 1 in the database column as they hold the most
important and highest impact full-text journals and conference proceedings in the
digital technologies field.

Table 1. Total number of papers found per database

Database Entrepreneurship Transformation Total
EBSCOhost 13 40 53
Emerald Insight 16 17 33
Google Scholar 30 30 60
IEEE Xplore 15 15 30
SAGE 2 1 3
Springer Link 59 15 74
Total 135 118 253

The following keywords were used to find relevant studies: for Digital
Entrepreneurship included (“Digital Entrepreneurship” OR “Digital Business” OR
“Digital Entrepreneur*” OR “Digital (NEAR/2) era”) AND (skills OR frame* OR
strat* OR review OR func* OR fail* OR barriers OR characteristics) NOT transfor-
mation. For Digital Transformation the search terms included (“Digital Transforma-
tion” OR “Transform* digital” OR “strategic transform*”) AND (strat* OR adopt* OR
benefits OR barriers OR practices) NOT Entrepreneurship. The initial search produced
a list of 253 papers as shown in Table 1.
244 J. Antonizzi and H. Smuts

The research studies were screened through the application of specific criteria to
exclude papers such as studies not associated with the research questions, non-English
studies, anecdotal or opinion-based papers and duplicate studies that formed part of the
result set. Criteria for inclusion of sources consisted of peer-reviewed publications
(journal papers, conference proceedings, books, case studies, book chapters) and
technical reports.
After the initial search, the application of exclusion and inclusion criteria, the
detailed screening of abstracts and analysis of the full-text of the prospective papers, 30
papers were identified for detailed analysis.

4 Data Analysis and Findings

Data was extracted from the selected papers based on the objective of this study, which
is to consider the characteristics of digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation.
Characteristic in the context of this paper refer to any distinguishing feature or attribute
of an item [31]. These distinguishing features or attributes were extracted and reported
in Table 2 together with the number of times the same theme occurred (frequency
count). For each characteristic identified, the source is indicated.
Self-employment refers to an individual’s aspiration of working for him/herself as a
freelance employee or the owner of a business, rather than for an employer. Self-
employment is viewed as freedom from traditional work assignments, work hours and
undesirable working conditions. Work satisfaction alludes to the measure of person’s
satisfaction with their job. Work satisfaction could be an important cornerstone of any
person’s reason to choose what industry to work in, which job they seek or how
strongly they wish to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is a practice which people
are drawn to, one which offers the potential for freedom, money, power and personal
purpose. Entrepreneurs across all industries, disciplines and practices, have certain
traits which set them aside from the rest of the work force such as business opportunity
identification and exploitation, vision and overcoming potential barriers.
Entrepreneurship can come from a range of areas and opportunities. This particular
characteristic was identified from entrepreneurship stemming from circumstances
which allowed for entrepreneurship to arise and flourish. These opportunities come in
the form of new markets, technological advancements, deficiencies in need satisfaction,
price-point vulnerabilities and a variety of other sources which lead to entrepreneurship
in multiple forms.
From a digital transformation perspective, digitisation allows for better relation-
ships. Critical to the success of almost all organisations globally is their ability to
create, maintain and prioritise relationships, and even more so for entrepreneurs. These
are relationships between the entrepreneur and other organisations within and outside
of their market, their suppliers, their employees and, most importantly, with their
customers; prioritising communication channels with their customer base have sig-
nificant competitive advantages over their competitors. Digitisation facilitates com-
munication, making it pivotal to the continuing success of an entrepreneur therefore,
understanding digitisation is critical. Digitisation, however, does not mean success is
automatically and easily attainable. While digitisation offers a range of opportunities to
 The Characteristics of Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation 245

Table 2. Characteristic and reference

Characteristic Source
Self-employment [15, 32]
Work satisfaction [32]
Entrepreneurship prospect [27]
Entrepreneurial traits [15–18, 27, 33]
Entrepreneurship can come from opportunity [3, 14–18, 20, 21, 27, 33–
38]
Digitisation allows for better relationships [9, 22, 23, 25, 34, 35, 39]
Digitisation does not mean success is clear and easy to [16]
entrepreneurs
Employee involvement is crucial [40]
Knowledge management [19]
Traditional organisational structures may slow progress [9, 23, 41]
E-strategies bolster competitive advantage [42]
Entrepreneurship aspiration [20, 37]
Business intelligence can facilitate entrepreneurship and [43]
transformation
Disruption comes from new market creation [14, 15, 17, 22, 28, 33, 34,
38]
Disruption comes from existing markets [17, 20, 25, 28, 37, 38, 40,
44]
Production competence comes from technology [25, 34, 45, 46]
Costs of technology [22, 37, 45, 46]
Technology adoption [25, 34, 45, 46]
Technology improves compatibility and working between [9, 35]
organisations
Understanding digitisation is critical [3, 21, 22, 24, 25, 39, 40,
44]
Digitisation allows for virtual teamwork [21, 35]

entrepreneurs, enacting it is not a guarantee of success to entrepreneurs. There is also

an array of other issues which need to be carefully considered, managed and mitigated.
There are resource issues, social issues, network requirements, market availability and
competitors which will constantly keep entrepreneurs vigilant, regardless of how
digitised their organisation has become. Employee involvement is also important as
having the best technology, processes, strategies, operations, partners and opportunities
in a market cannot add any value if the company has no one to endorse all of these
aforementioned strengths. The benefits of any technology can only be realised when it
is being truly accepted and utilised. User acceptance of technologies and the influences
on user attitudes, customer engagement and business operations have been widely
researched, and is a key characteristic enabling digital entrepreneurship.
246 J. Antonizzi and H. Smuts

Knowledge management involves the creation, control and use of all forms of
knowledge throughout an organisation. This is knowledge of systems, customers,
employees, strategies, threats, opportunities, and any other form of information which
an organisation can be sustained and improved using. Managing and effectively dis-
tributing knowledge throughout an organisation is crucial to both maintaining success
as well as pioneering expansion. Traditional organisations are heavily structured, rigid
bodies which possess a great deal of hierarchy. Upper management and associated
strategists decide on the direction of the organisation and dictate that direction to
subordinates. This may slow down progress drastically compared to fast-paced, new-
age companies. E-strategies bolster competitive advantage. As we move further and
further into the digital age, e-business strategies are becoming cardinal to successful
operations, sustenance and development of all organisations, especially those which
primarily operate within the digital realm. Organisations which employ e-strategies are
experiencing advantages over competitors who are not engaging in strategies of a
similar nature. Adoption can be increased or reduced based on a number of factors.
There is a broad spectrum of reasons organisations are either excited or reluctant to
adopt new technologies and practices. These reasons include cost, competitive
advantage, learning curves, training, revenue potential and all other factors which are
relevant to adoption. Entrepreneurship can also come from within. While
entrepreneurship is primarily associated with private, self-employed individuals start-
ing companies, it is important to note that entrepreneurship can arise from within an
existing organisation. Emerging markets allow for entrepreneurs to go from being
employees within an organisation to becoming self-sufficient entrepreneurs, creating
new businesses within those markets.
Business intelligence can facilitate entrepreneurship and transformation.
Entrepreneurship and transformation is impossible to achieve without data, and more
information and, most importantly, knowledge. Business intelligence is the driver
behind entrepreneurship and transformation. Business intelligence offers information
on technology, applications, processes, dashboards and other key tools entrepreneurs
require to be successful and organisations require to successfully transform themselves.
Disruption comes from new market creation. The creation of a new market is a
common occurrence when investigating disruptive companies. Creating a new market,
which solves the needs of customers across a variety of existing markets, can be crucial
to incumbent organisations sustaining their success. Organisations creating new mar-
kets and obtaining a large share of that market, while negatively impacting on the
performance of organisations in other, related markets, can cause a great deal of dis-
ruption. Disruption comes from existing markets. Disruption from within already-
established markets is an alternative, but equally common, approach to causing dis-
ruption for organisations which are incumbent to that market. When there is a number
of organisations operating within and profiting from the same market, competitor
activity may disrupt the market they know and capitalize off of, could be fundamentally
changed. Production competence comes from technology. The ability of an organi-
sation to produce competently is based on a variety of mechanisms. And technology is
at the centre of these mechanisms. Maintaining production competence in industries
where competitors are constantly improving their technology can be harmful to
organisations who are not improving their technology. There are a number of barriers
 The Characteristics of Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation 247

to the initial adoption of technology as well as to improving existing technology, but

the challenges of these changes could be outweighed by the negative effects that the
failure to change carries.
Costs of adoption are a primary negative. There is a multitude of possible reasons
why organisations do not want to adopt new technologies, techniques or operating
methods. Chief among these reasons is that of cost. The inordinate costs associated
with both adopting new technologies or operational methods, as well as improving on
existing technology or operational methods, is the principal reason organisations are
reluctant to digitally transform. Technology improves compatibility and working
between organisations. Communication, mutual operation and successful interactions
between organisations is facilitated and improved by technology. Traditional channels
of business are supplemented with technology, where organisations which rely on each
other have superior means of communication and operational efficiency stemming from
their use of supporting technology. Digitisation allows for virtual teamwork. Tradi-
tionally, employees would have face-to-face interactions with one another at a physical
workplace. However, owing to digitisation, organisations are now able to create virtual
teams, which have the potential to span a city, a country, or the globe. As a result,
teams can cooperate with one another at anytime from anywhere in the world without
having to physically meet. This allows for new perspective, ways of working, problem
solving and round-the-clock working on the same projects as well as more flexibility
and employee freedom.

5 Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation

Characteristics

In order to report the findings of the SLR, we utilised the Dynamic Capabilities Theory
which refers to the “ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external
competencies to address rapidly-changing environments” [47: 9]. The dynamic capa-
bilities approach emphasises organisational and strategic capabilities to realise com-
petitive advantage and consists of three main components of capabilities: (1) to sense
and shape opportunities and threats (sensing), (2) to seize opportunities (seizing), and
(3) to maintain competitiveness through enhancing, combining, protecting, and, when
necessary, reconfiguring the organisation’s intangible and tangible assets (“trans-
forming” or “shifting”) [47]. By mapping the characteristics identified (Table 2) to the
3 main components of the dynamic capabilities based on the definitions and scope of
each, the particular feature and attribute set of digital entrepreneurship and digital
transformation are depicted in Table 3.
The aim of this paper was to consider the characteristics of digital entrepreneurship
and digital transformation as they are not mutually exclusive (Sect. 2.3). Characteristics
pertinent to sensing and shaping opportunity includes the creation of self-employment
through prospects based on an entrepreneurs’ drive to succeed. Digital transformation
in this instance provides opportunities to create new markets or to optimise existing
collaborations and the understanding of digitisation may shape additional prospects.
Digitisation enables digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation. The manage-
ment, and the successful implementation thereof, is what allows for lucrative digital
248 J. Antonizzi and H. Smuts

Table 3. Digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation characteristics mapped to dynamic

capabilities [47]
Sensing Seizing Transforming or shifting
Self-employment Entrepreneurship can Work satisfaction
come from opportunity
Entrepreneurship prospect Traditional Entrepreneurial traits
organisational
structures may slow
progress
Entrepreneurship aspiration E-strategies bolster Digitisation allows for better
competitive advantage relationships
Disruption comes from new Disruption comes from Digitisation does not mean
market creation existing markets success is clear and easy to
entrepreneurs
Technology improves Production competence Employee involvement is
compatibility and working comes from technology crucial
between organisations
Understanding digitisation is Knowledge management
critical
Business intelligence can
facilitate entrepreneurship and
transformation
Cost of technology
Technology adoption
Digitisation allows for virtual
teamwork

entrepreneurship and digital transformation to take place. Characteristics relevant to

seizing opportunity are based on an entrepreneurs’ ability to exploit prospects that may
be derived from existing market- or digital transformation strategies. The potential of
technology in improving productivity also presents opportunity. Technology is
employed, in some form or another, by incumbent organisations which dominate
markets, start-ups, entrepreneurs and by those who are transforming organisations. The
fact that traditional organisations may slow down progress is highlighted as a char-
acteristic to be aware of in a digital entrepreneurship endevour. Characteristics appli-
cable to maintaining competitiveness include features pertaining to an entrepreneur
profile such as traits, work satisfaction, relationships, collaboration, technology
adoption and the management of knowledge. The facilitative role of data and business
intelligence on entrepreneurship and transformation, must be considered and the cost of
adoption is a characteristic highlighting potential drawbacks to be cognisant of.
Table 3 illustrates that a number of characteristics need to be considered in order to
achieve digital entrepreneurship enabled through digital transformation, signifying the
relationship existing between them. By taking the characteristics into account, both
 The Characteristics of Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation 249

organisations as well as individuals can consider creating new business ventures or

transform existing enterprises by creating, or making use of, innovative technologies.

6 Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to consider the characteristics of digital entrepreneurship
and digital transformation. After investigating and analysing entrepreneurship and
digital transformation to determine a clearer understanding of what these concepts
entail, a SLR was conducted. Twenty-one characteristics were identified and presented
using the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, illustrating the key features and attributes of
digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation.
By referencing the data from this study, both individuals and companies can garner
a firmer grasp on what these concepts entail and how they can add value to intellectual
and practical knowledge. This paper contributed by highlighting a number of key
characteristics which exist for each digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation,
with focus on how these characteristics relate. By making use of the proposed con-
ceptual framework, individuals and organisations alike can either start new companies
or adapt existing ones to be aligned with the digital age.
As this study focused on identifying the characteristics of digital entrepreneurship
and digital transformation, the proposed findings may be tested in a real-world situation
within and organisation, with entrepreneurs or with an idea incubator and accelerator.
Through such a process, the proposed characteristic set may be enriched.

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