Institute for Management, Business, and Accounting Studies Institute for Management, Business, and Accounting Studies

Search

Search results:
Classifying Digital Business Risks: Strategic Lock-In, Data Privacy, Algorithmic Bias, Platform Dependence, Workforce Displacement, and Reputation Loss
Digital transformation has expanded the risk exposure of firms beyond conventional operational, financial, and compliance categories. As organizations adopt artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, digital platforms, data-intensive business models, and automation, they face risks that are technically embedded, strategically consequential, and socially visible. These risks often emerge simultaneously across technology architectures, data practices, organizational routines, labor systems, and stakeholder relationships. Despite the growing importance of digital risk, existing business risk frameworks frequently classify these risks in fragmented ways. Some frameworks treat privacy as a legal compliance matter, bias as a technical problem, platform dependence as a sourcing issue, and workforce disruption as a human resource concern. This fragmentation limits managerial understanding of how digital risks interact, accumulate, and escalate across the firm. This article develops an original taxonomy of digital business risks. It classifies the risk landscape into six categories: strategic lock-in, data privacy, algorithmic bias, platform dependence, workforce displacement, and reputation loss. The taxonomy is designed to distinguish categories clearly while also showing how they may interact in practice. The article follows a conceptual taxonomy development approach based on synthesis of  peer-reviewed journal articles published. It applies formal classification criteria related to risk source, impact domain, time horizon, controllability, regulatory exposure, and organizational response capability. The resulting taxonomy provides definitions, sub-dimensions, comparative criteria, and managerial use cases. The contribution of the article is a systematic classification framework for digital business risk identification and assessment. It offers a shared language for researchers, managers, boards, and risk professionals seeking to govern digital transformation more effectively. The taxonomy also creates a foundation for future empirical validation and integration into enterprise risk management and digital strategy processes.
Journal of Digital Business and Management Studies
Original Research | Open access | 18 September 2025 | Article: 85
Filters
Clear All

Subject
Accounting Information Systems Artificial Intelligence for Management Auditing Business Analytics Business Economics Business Intelligence Business Models Change Management Consumer Behavior Corporate Governance Corporate Sustainability Data-Driven Decision Making Decision Support Systems Digital Business Digital Entrepreneurship Digital Governance Digital Innovation Digital Marketing Digital Platforms Digital Strategy Digital Transformation E-Business ESG Electronic Commerce Entrepreneurship FinTech Finance Financial Accounting Human Resource Management Innovation Management International Business Knowledge Management Leadership Management Accounting Management Information Systems Managerial Economics Marketing Operations Organizational Behavior Organizational Innovation Performance Measurement Project Management Public and Nonprofit Management Risk Management Smart Business Systems Strategic Management Sustainable Business Management Technology Management Technology-Enabled Organizational Change




Access type