COLLABORATIVE PRACTICES ON DIGITAL JOURNEY: LESSONS LEARNED FROM BRAZILIAN MANUFACTURES

Collaborations with partners are at the center of digital projects, but managing these collaborations is challenging. This research investigates how R&D collaborations with external partners contribute to Digital Transformation – DT - through a qualitative investigation of large Brazilian factories already on their journey towards digitalization. Interviews and questionnaires were applied to employees followed by content analysis. The companies investigated are at the early stage of building a digital ecosystem. However, they have already secured benefits from pursuing collaborative innovation practices in the form of competitive advantage. The successful execution of digital innovation projects requires integrated thinking for management decisions and a co-creation approach with capability providers. The lack of a digital mindset, a clear digital strategy, scarcity of digital capabilities emerge as the most prominent barriers. This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between DT and Open Innovation empirically in large manufacturers in an emerging economy. The article also highlights the difficulties in diffusing digital innovation arising from the lack of coordinated national policies for DT, which can prevent companies from fully experiencing the opportunities of this transformation. The results can help decision makers and managers to deal with DT hurdles, and to develop in companies’ capabilities.