Key enablers of dynamic capabilities for digital transformation in supply chain management

Digital transformation is reshaping supply chains, yet we still know little about how dynamic capabilities are enabled to make large-scale change happen across networks of firms. This study examines the managerial levers that activate sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring during supply chain digitalization. Based on a multiple-case analysis of 17 large international firms and a frequency analysis of 3,326 interview codes, we identify 22 micro-foundations clustered around three managerial enablers, namely leadership approach, investment-decision process, and digital experts, shaping the dynamic capabilities in digitally transforming supply chains. The findings show that a top-down strategic vision fused with bottom-up entrepreneurship, reinforced by cross-functional and inter-organizational collaboration and flexible, impact-based funding, synchronizes sensing with seizing, whereas iterative investment cycles and the staged involvement of digital experts foster continuous reconfiguration of structures and processes. By unpacking the operative “how” behind dynamic capabilities and extending their lens beyond the single firm to the supply chain network, the research advances theory and offers managers actionable levers for accelerating large-scale digital change while preserving entrepreneurial agility.