Evolution of strategic management of industrial enterprises in the context of digital transformation

Abstract

Aim. To analyze the evolution of strategic management of industrial enterprises in the context of digital transformation and to substantiate the expediency of identifying digital adaptive logic as an independent stage characterized by a particular regime of strategy formulation and implementation. Objectives. To demonstrate that digital transformation changes not only the set of management tools but also the dominant object of strategizing, the mechanism of competitive advantage, and the horizon and update regime of strategy; to systematize the main stages of strategic management development as applied to industrial enterprises; to clarify the criteria for the author’s periodization; to reveal the limitations of classical approaches, competitive positioning, resource-based and competence-based logic, and network, platform, and ecosystem strategies in the context of digital transformation; to substantiate the specificity of digital adaptive logic; to formulate managerial recommendations for incorporating the digital agenda into the strategic planning framework of an enterprise. Methods. The study employs comparative-historical analysis, conceptual review, content analysis of scholarly sources, as well as methods of analytical typologization and conceptual synthesis. The typologization criteria used are the dominant object of strategizing, the mechanism of competitive advantage formation, and the prevailing horizon and update regime of strategy. This approach allows for a transition from a chronological description of strategic management schools to an analytical periodization applicable to industrial enterprises. Results. A refined author’s periodization of the evolution of strategic management of industrial enterprises is proposed. Six stages are identified: the pre-strategic stage of production rationalization; long-term and corporate planning; competitive positioning and industry analysis; resource-based and competence-based logic; network, platform, and ecosystem strategies; and digital adaptive logic. It is shown that at the current stage, data, digital architecture, algorithms, digital twins, and analytics are becoming independent objects of strategic management. The study substantiates the assertion that digital transformation requires a distinction between a stable strategic core and a renewable portfolio of digital initiatives. Conclusions. The article traces a consistent shift in strategic focus from operational efficiency and formalized planning to competitive positioning, capability development, network and ecosystem management, and then to data and digital architecture. Digital transformation does not negate the long-term nature of strategy but changes the way it is implemented: the enterprise moves from a rigid fixed plan to a model of a strategic core and a rolling portfolio of initiatives. For Russian industrial enterprises, this implies diagnosing digital maturity, developing data management institutions, forming cross-functional competencies, managing technology partnerships, and regularly updating digital initiatives without substituting strategy with tactical responses.