Explaining the Effect of Digital Transformation and Financial Intelligence on Firms’ Economic Resilience under Conditions of Environmental Uncertainty
Keywords:
Digital transformation, financial intelligence, economic resilience, environmental uncertainty, thematic analysis, firmsAbstract
This study aimed to explain the effect of digital transformation and financial intelligence on firms’ economic resilience under conditions of environmental uncertainty. This qualitative study was conducted using a thematic analysis design. The participants included financial managers, financial IT managers, internal auditors, financial analysts, and senior executives of firms located in Tehran. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques were used, and theoretical saturation was reached after 22 semi-structured interviews. The interviews lasted between 45 and 75 minutes and were transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using NVivo software through open, axial, and selective coding. To enhance trustworthiness, member checking, peer debriefing, constant comparison, audit trail documentation, and iterative review of codes and themes were employed. The analysis resulted in five main categories: “digital infrastructure and integration of financial data,” “financial intelligence and cash-flow predictability,” “strategic agility and resource reconfiguration,” “data governance, risk control, and financial transparency,” and “cultural, institutional, and skill-related barriers to digital transformation.” Participants emphasized that digital transformation contributes to economic resilience only when it goes beyond software adoption and becomes embedded in data integration, predictive decision-making, risk control, organizational learning, and business model flexibility. Financial intelligence was also found to enhance firms’ resilience by enabling liquidity forecasting, scenario analysis, real-time monitoring of financial indicators, early detection of financial risk, and reduced dependence on intuitive managerial judgments. The findings suggest that digital transformation and financial intelligence can strengthen firms’ economic resilience in uncertain environments when they are supported by human capabilities, data governance, organizational agility, and a strategic approach to technology implementation. Therefore, digital financial systems should be understood not merely as operational tools but as dynamic capabilities that enable firms to anticipate shocks, absorb disruptions, adapt financial decisions, and recover more effectively from environmental volatility.
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