Successful digital transformation requires interaction of strategic elements in an organization. Based on the framework by Rockart and Morton, five strategic elements are identified – People, Technology, Organizational Structure & Culture, Strategy and Process, which are driven by external forces including technological environment and socio-economic environment.
These elements shall be harmonized to support digital transformation as drivers for an organization to periodically adjust its overall strategy.
Kane et al (2015) believe that “develop(ing) effective digital strategies is more important than just technology”. The strategy should focus on integration of digital technologies to transform key business process. Top management should be involved and strong leadership with dynamic culture, flexible and risk taking attitude will also generate new opportunities.
Bharadwaj et al. (2013) identify four key themes of digital business strategy – Scope, scale, speed and source, which define next generation insights. Synthesizing these themes and associating them with the Key external digital trends and Key organization shifts can provide organization a view of successful metrics.
Changes Required for Digital Strategic Transformation
It is appreciated that “new digital HR/people strategy needs a new operational model as well. Senior management and leadership should encourage every member of the organization to take responsibility by providing the necessary framework, tools and incentives.” (Becerra, 2017). Further, there is a need to hire new digital experts to tackle new issues and skills that may have not been considered or required in the past. According to Michael Gale (2016), “one of the most basic impediment to moving forward on the road to digital transformation is whether or not enough people within the organization are aware of the
Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2011). Race Against the Machine: How Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity and Ireversibly Tranforming Employment and the Economy. Lexington, Massachusetts: Digital Frontier Press.
Managing transformational at National Computer Operations is an article discussing the dilemmas faced when a company is forced to implement changes within a two year timeframe in order to compete with other emerging computer technology companies. NCO’s Managing Director Gar Finvold, decided to review NCO’s market position and to look for improvement opportunities that change implementation enhancements would ensure that NCO would emerge and maintain their position as the leading computer support services firm.
Mithas, S., Tafti, A., & Mitchell, W. (2013). How a Firm’s Competitive Environment and Digital
Swinton, J. (n.d). How Burberry's digital strategy is boosting brand value. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/partner-zone-brand-union/burberry-digital-strategy-brand. Last accessed 20th March 2014.
A company’s value chain can be created through a number of avenues. Tangible and intangible resources including knowledge, capabilities, skilled human resources, information systems, and company infrastructure can each be a distinctive competency. However, the multi-faceted business environment and industry dynamics can effectively erase a company’s advantage over time. This is particularly true with tangible resources. It’s easy for competitors to imitate one another. For example, all players in the package courier industry have invested heavily in tracking technology, shipping labels, and scanners. When UPS decided to move into the retail industry and acquired Mail Box Etc. in 2001, FedEx followed suit and acquired Kinko’s in 2004 (Hill & Jones, 2011). Marketing strategies related to pricing and promotions are also highly coveted.
Henderson and Venkatraman proposed a model for business – IT alignment; it was intended to support the integration of information technology (IT) into business strategy by advocating alignment between and within four domains (see figure 1). The inter-domain alignment is pursued along two dimensions: strategic fit (between the external and internal domain) and functional integration (between the business domain and the IT domain). The objective of this model was to provide a way to align information technology with business objectives in order to realise value from IT investments. The authors argued that the potential strategic impact of information technology requires both an understanding of the critical components of IT strategy and its role in supporting and shaping business strategy decisions and a process of continuous adaptation and change. Hence, they presented a model that defines the range of strategic choices facing managers.
Turban, E. (2009) Information technology for management : transforming organizations in the digital economy. 7th ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Digitization: An ongoing process of creative destruction innovators use both new and established technologies to make deep changes at the level of the task, the job, the process, even the organization itself. (Erik Brynjolfsson, 2011)
Basically transformation strategies are quite complicated because the process of innovation in any business environments will depends on it. We knows that in order to develop a business environment that supports the activities of innovation, most of the organizations will require an extensive changes in terms of the culture and systems of the organizational itself. The process can be difficult to achieve and also can caused disruptive, cost overflowing and time consuming. The innovation can give the potential of long term benefits but most of organizations more interested in short terms gains and cost reductions. The...
Social media is pertinent in use of communication throughout today’s organizations. There are many social media platforms that allow organizations to convey communication to potential consumers, stakeholders and the public. “It is essential for leaders to integrate these technologies and seek the best way to use social media and networks to the advantage of the business” (Billington, 2012, p.1). Business owners find that keeping up with current technology trends is essential in having a competitive advantage in the market place and having a strict set of standards and strategy is important in quickly adapting to social media trends.
The world is constantly changing in many different ways. Whether it is technological or cultural change is present and inevitable. Organizations are not exempt from change. As a matter of fact, organizations have to change with the world and society in order to be successful. Organizations have to constantly incorporate change in order to have a competitive advantage and satisfy their customers. Organizations use change in order to learn and grow. However, change is not something that can happen in an organization overnight. It has to be thought through and planned. The General Model of Planned Change focuses on what processes are used by the organization to implement change. In the General Model of Planned Change, four steps are used in order to complete the process of change. Entering and Contracting, Diagnosing, Planning and Implementing, and Evaluating and Institutionalizing are the four steps used in order to complete the process of change in an organization. The diagnostic process is one of the most important activities in OD(Cummings, 2009, p. 30).
Advances in technology have changed businesses dramatically, in particular the communication and information technology that are conducted in firms, which changed the appearance and pace of businesses over the past few decades. ICT in particular, has evolved a lot over the past 30 years; important information can be stored in computers rather than being in drawers enabling information to be transferred at a greater volume and speed (Guy, 2009). ICT has also expanded various forms of telecommunications and workload conducted in businesses, internet examples of this include: e-mails can be used to communicate with others...
(2007). The Alignment of Business and Information Technology Strategy in Australia. Australasian Journal Of Information Systems, Vol 14, Iss 2 (2007), (2), doi:10.3127/ajis.v14i2.184
We can’t assume consumers will remain loyal if we don’t adapt and learn and you can’t assume brand strength alone will keep them or attract new consumers. The market will change and new will enter the market. I realized that the 5 D’s (Discovering, Defining, Developing, Doing, and Directing) in the marketing process is a continuous, an ongoing evaluation of the market conditions and the continued adaption. For Digital Channels, that means we must have the best feature rich products and service that our customers value. We can’t assume they will stay with us because they have for years. The moment a company becomes complacent, they become
Turban et al. (2007: 6th edition) Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organisations in the Digital Economy. Wiley