Digital Innovation in Times of Emergency: Reactions from a School of Management in Italy

The study explores how the COVID-19 outbreak prompted digital innovation in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) by providing evidence on the dimensions leveraged, the initiatives organised and the organisational results achieved. By means of an exploratory single case study based on a School of Management located in Northern Italy, the study proposes a process model to highlight how digital innovation has been fostered during the emergency. Results highlight the relevance of both technological and cultural aspects that supported the digital transformation during the crisis. The dimensions of digital readiness and cultural openness, together with a defined strategic orientation, represented relevant facilitators of the digital innovation process. In turn, digital innovation had important implications for sustainability, which was fostered by increasing the accessibility to quality education and addressed as a topic of many of the digital contents delivered. Thus, the study contributes to the stream of research that investigates how digital innovation in HEIs and other public administrations happens and how such an innovation can support sustainability. Finally, the paper provides practical implications on both technological and cultural aspects of innovation.