Managing Transitions: A Cross-Domain Framework for Technological and Environmental Transformation

Abstract

Organizations across diverse sectors face a common challenge: the need to transition from established systems, practices, and technologies to new approaches that promise improved performance, greater efficiency, or enhanced sustainability. These transitions—whether they involve migrating data from legacy platforms to cloud infrastructure, adopting multi-cloud architectures for improved resilience, or transforming aviation operations to achieve carbon neutrality—share fundamental characteristics that are often overlooked when transitions are managed within disciplinary silos. This article examines three distinct transition contexts: the migration of customer relationship management data from Microsoft Dynamics 365 to Google Cloud Platform, the adoption of unified DevOps practices across AWS and Azure environments, and the transformation of commercial aviation toward carbon-neutral operations. Drawing on these cases, the analysis develops a cross-domain framework for managing transitions that identifies four critical dimensions: readiness assessment, pathway design, capability building, and benefit realization. The article argues that successful transitions depend on recognizing the common patterns that underlie apparently different transformation efforts, and on adopting management approaches that address technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions simultaneously. It concludes by proposing a transition management methodology that integrates these dimensions and identifying implications for practitioners and researchers.