Guest editorial: Emerging digital technologies and professional services: current and future research agenda
Piyush Kumar Sharma, Wa Kimmy Chan, Russel Philip John Kingshott · Journal of Service Theory and Practice · 2023
Emerging digital technologies and professional services: Current and future research agendaPurpose -The purpose of this editorial is to summarise the eight articles published in this special issue and to extend the growing research on the challenges and opportunities facing professional services providers in adopting emerging digital technologies.Design/methodology/approach -The eight papers included in this special issue adopt diverse theoretical and managerial perspectives with a broad range of methodologies.We have classified these into three broad themes, namely a) Diverse theoretical perspectives, b) Challenges in digitalisation process, and c) Practical applications of digitalisation.Findings -This special issue highlights the different theoretical perspectives used to explain the adoption of emerging digital technologies by professional services providers and the challenges faced by them in this process, using many practical examples of their application.Research limitations/implications -The findings from the eight papers have useful implications for future research but their findings may not always be generalizable beyond the unique context of the studies reported in each of these papers. Practical implications -This special issue may help professional services providersunderstand the challenges and opportunities offered by emerging digital technologies.Originality/value -This special issue is unique because it is one of the first attempts to understand the unique challenges and opportunities faced by professional services provides in response to the proliferation of emerging digital technologies.