Linking business models and digital technologies through integrated reporting

Within the 4.0 paradigm, the disruptive adoption of digital technologies is modifying the way companies develop business and manage the relationships within and across their business environment. Although several scholarly contributions have investigated how digital transformation (DT) and business models (BMs) influence each other, a research gap has emerged regarding the relevance attributed to the DT information disclosed in the section of the integrated reports (IRs) devoted to BM. This research investigates the role that reporters attribute to DT by exploring whether and how companies qualify DT as part of their BM and whether it is considered a purely structural factor or a strategic factor able to influence the relationship with stakeholders and the value-creation process. Based on a content analysis of 48 integrated reports for the years 2020 and 2021, our research insights qualify DT as a driver capable of generating impacts on companies' ecosystems, although the findings do not reveal the adoption of quantitative and forward-looking information to disclose the relationship between DT and BM. Moreover, our research provides managerial implication in terms of reporting and communication effectiveness, and it is unique and valuable, as it opens up a new line of research on IR and DT.