How Digital Technologies Are Transforming Business Processes
February 23, 2026
Digital technologies are reshaping how organizations operate, collaborate, and engage with customers. From early e-commerce to artificial intelligence and blockchain, these developments are fundamentally changing business models and value creation.
Maria Madlberger, Head of Department, Full Professor, and Area Coordinator for Marketing at Webster Vienna Private University, researches how digital innovation influences business processes across marketing and supply chain management. Her work focuses on how organizations adopt digital tools, how these tools transform supply chains and interactions between companies and consumers, and what opportunities and challenges emerge as a result.
At the center of her research is a key question: how do digital technologies reshape business processes across the value chain? She distinguishes between two main contexts:
- Business-to-business (B2B): examining how companies coordinate within supply chains, share data, and improve operational performance.
- Business-to-consumer (B2C): focusing on how organizations engage end users through e-commerce, social media, and integrated digital experiences.
From E-Commerce to AI
Dr. Madlberger’s research journey began in the early 2000s with electronic retailing, when companies first explored how the internet could support sales. Since then, her work has evolved alongside technological change - moving toward online consumer reviews, social media, omnichannel management, blockchain applications, and artificial intelligence.
One major shift she highlights in B2C management is the move from multichannel to omnichannel management, where customers now expect seamless integration between online and offline touchpoints.
Supply Chains and Data Sharing
Modern supply chains rely on far more than basic transactions. Companies increasingly exchange inventory information, product characteristics, regulatory data, and sustainability attributes such as origin or organic certification.
These data flows support efficiency and transparency but require close coordination across multiple partners — from producers and manufacturers to wholesalers and
retailers. Through collaborations with Austrian retail companies, Madlberger studies how digital systems can improve supply chain performance in practice.
Research in a Data-Rich World
Her work is primarily empirical, combining surveys, interviews, and case studies. She also integrates secondary data analysis, including systematic literature reviews and meta-studies and large datasets such as online consumer reviews and financial news platforms, to examine how technology affects managerial action and their effectiveness.
While advanced analytics offer powerful insights, she emphasizes that human-centered methods remain essential for understanding motivations, attitudes, and decision-making, particularly in consumer behaviour and managerial decision-making.
Innovation with Responsibility
Digital technologies offer significant potential to improve efficiency, automate processes, enhance service quality, and support sustainability. At the same time, they raise challenges around privacy, energy use, and social impact.
Professor Madlberger stresses that technology should always be viewed as a tool and not an end in itself. The key is using digital systems to create meaningful value while carefully considering ethical and societal implications.
Advice for Aspiring Researchers
For students interested in academic careers, she encourages early engagement with research through doctoral studies, developing strong methodological skills, building professional networks, and participating in research projects and grant applications. She also notes that geographic mobility is often part of academic career paths and that research training provides valuable transferable skills.
Through her work, Madlberger continues to explore how digital transformation reshapes business practice — supporting organizations in navigating technological change thoughtfully and responsibly.