Microfoundations Asserted, Not Tested: A Scoping Review of Employee Dynamic Capabilities In Digitalised Work

Abstract

Digital transformation depends on what individuals can do, yet dynamic capabilities theory was formulated at the level of the firm. Capability labels placing that capacity with employees and managers have spread rapidly through research on digitalised work, but whether they denote a shared construct is unknown, and existing reviews address only the organisational level or digital government. This review maps how a dynamic capability borne by an individual is defined, dimensioned, measured and linked to outcomes. Following scoping review guidance, we searched one citation database for peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2026 in Asia and the Global South, screened 710 records in duplicate, and charted 14 eligible studies against 64 charting variables. Inductive coding of verbatim definitions produced seven conceptual families, two of them ontologically incompatible, and no two of the twelve quantitative studies shared a measurement instrument. Employee-bearer and manager-bearer studies drew on entirely separate intellectual sources. No study tested dispositional and organisational antecedents within one model, so the microfoundational claim this literature makes for itself remains untested. The review provides a systematic mapping of Employee Dynamic Capabilities and shows that their fragmented conceptualisation must be resolved before the proposed microfoundational and mediation mechanisms can be meaningfully tested.