COVID-19 has directly influenced the digital transformation in companies. In a matter of days, remote activities had to be quickly deployed in organizations, new consumer habits incorporated, and technologies inserted, demanding technological solutions. Thus, companies had to adapt to a new normal. In this scenario the following questions have emerged: What is digital transformation? What are the relationships between digital transformation and sustainability in the post-covid era? To answer these questions, the following objective was set: to analyze the relationship between digital transformation and sustainability in the post-COVID-19 era. To this end, an integrative literature review was conducted using the Web of Science database. Results indicate that digital transformation and sustainability are directly interconnected to economic activities, including the area of maintenance and facility management. The post-pandemic trends highlight years of recovery and readaptation in the face of the crisis, together with digital transformation, which promises to increasingly improve.
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The new investor profiles and consumer behavior move companies towards environmental, social and governance issues. Something that until recently was not even considered in business plans, today becomes the subject of discussions (Ng, 2021). This is due to a socio-environmental awareness that the market now wants in companies, no longer seen as an attribution, but as a value offer. Being recognized for promoting positive impact on the community, adopting ethical corporate conduct and caring for the environment has become a differentiator in the business world, adding a new guiding principle for companies: being ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) (Peterson et al., 2021).
In this scenario, the abbreviation ESG is recognized by the initials of the English words Environmental, Social and Governance. This means a concern with the way in which the company deals with the environmental impacts of the production, commercialization and use of the products and services it offers; the way in which the company relates with its collaborators, clients and the community in which it is inserted; and the principles and values of its management. Thus, the company has to be concerned with new concepts and actions involving sustainability. In this context, in the consumer's view, it is not a matter of having a product, but of being conscious in their acquisition experience. As the world that the customer, the supplier, the company, the organizations and the investor live in, is the same, there is a common reason to preserve it.
Com a pandemia do COVID-19, para garantir a sustentabilidade nas organizações optouise por inovar através da transformação digital e mudanças no comportamento das pessoas. Assim, nas grandes corporações as conversas são sobre diminuir distâncias com processos mais inovadores e tecnológicos. Sendo assim, além da transformação digital há a responsabilidade social, a governança e a sustentabilidade a preocupação em atender essas temáticas são apresentadas figura
Figure 1, below, makes the company more aware of its responsibility, as an actor in the environmental preservation process, in commercial and labor relations and in its correct management. Reasons why they seek concepts, methods and tools to assist in the achievement of these objectives.
Figure 1. Source: Authors (2022) Based on the foregoing, the main objective of this research is to analyze in the light of a systematic literature review the relationships between digital transformation and sustainability in the post-covid period. To this end, a bibliometric search was conducted in the Web of Science database. The research is divided, in addition to this introduction, into five parts. The first part is entitled introduction, the second presents the concepts about digital transformation, the third part presents sustainability and the fourth part explains the methodology adopted in this research, the fifth part discusses the research results and, finally, the authors' final considerations.