Why Digital Maturity Models Fail: An Exploratory Interview Study Within the Digital Transformation Steering Process

Maximilian Breitruck

2025

Abstract

Digital Maturity Models (DMMs) are widely used tools to assess and guide organizational digital transformation (DT). However, their practical contribution to the transformation process often fails due to insufficient stakeholder involvement, inadequate adaptability, or unsuitable assessment tools. This study explores these shortcomings through a socio-technical lens, analyzing why DMMs fail to deliver value in transformation processes. Drawing on an exploratory interview study with experts from the industry, eight key dimensions of failure, such e.g. as misalignment with organizational strategies, cultural resistance, and inadequate iterative usage practices, were identified. These initial results reveal that beyond the design of DMMs, systemic organizational and procedural barriers significantly hinder DMM utility. Building on that, ultimately, a comprehensive framework of utility barriers and derived requirements for building and integrating DMMs should be developed.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Breitruck M. (2025). Why Digital Maturity Models Fail: An Exploratory Interview Study Within the Digital Transformation Steering Process. In Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 2: ICEIS; ISBN 978-989-758-749-8, SciTePress, pages 883-890. DOI: 10.5220/0013427800003929

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceis25,
author={Maximilian Breitruck},
title={Why Digital Maturity Models Fail: An Exploratory Interview Study Within the Digital Transformation Steering Process},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 2: ICEIS},
year={2025},
pages={883-890},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013427800003929},
isbn={978-989-758-749-8},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 2: ICEIS
TI - Why Digital Maturity Models Fail: An Exploratory Interview Study Within the Digital Transformation Steering Process
SN - 978-989-758-749-8
AU - Breitruck M.
PY - 2025
SP - 883
EP - 890
DO - 10.5220/0013427800003929
PB - SciTePress