Weisshorn Transformation Blog

We appreciate your time engaging and the encouragement we received in response to our previous post. We plan to share and sharpen our thinking based on what we have learned in engagements over the years. Therefore, let us discuss our foundational framework with the crucial elements of successful digital transformation:

• Transformative Business Case – The transformation initiative needs to address a critical issue vital to the organization’s success. This can be company wide e.g. how Netflix transitioned from a DVD rental service to a streaming platform to leverage the online market or limited to specific parts of the company e.g. how ABN Amro is transforming their customer experience to be more relevant to their clients.Professor Clayton M. Christensen said, „A disruptive innovation is a process that takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up the market, eventually displacing established competitors.“

• Staying Power – Effective change requires dedicated individuals whose success aligns with the mission’s success. Microsoft’s pivot to a cloud-first company under Satya Nadella is an example. 

• Technological Acumen – The adoption of technology varies depending on its maturity. For instance, early adopters require a high-risk tolerance and are more in a co-creation setting with the tech providers, while later adopters can follow proven pathways. As technology, academic Roger Atkinson suggests, „Each wave of new technology brings challenges in understanding its potential and integrating it smoothly into existing practices.“

• Mastering Internal Compliance – Enlisting the support of internal controls, such as risk, finance, security, and workers‘ council, is essential. One cannot overlook the importance of internal stakeholders‘ buy-in for transformation success, as Professor Thomas H. Davenport voiced, „Just as you can’t fly an airplane with one wing… large-scale organizational changes require the active cooperation of the whole organization.“

• Conforming with External Expectations – Regulatory, legal, and other external factors should be considered early to prevent future roadblocks. The GDPR in Europe is a case in point which can be mastered easily when addressed early on in a transformation. Legal scholar Paul Schwartz states, „Laws and regulations shape the contours of corporate response to the digital transformation.“

• Lasting Mobilisation of Employees – Employees need to understand the benefits of transformation and feel motivated to shape and embrace  the journey. As pointed out by MIT Professor Edgar Schein, „In the absence of sufficient personal competence, a person would prefer to be guided by those whom he sees as more competent than himself.“

This forms our practical framework for successful digital transformation (maybe not new in terms of content but with a different emphasis in the different aspects). Every experience is unique. What do you think? Is there anything missing?.

#DigitalTransformation #CloudTechnology #PracticalInsights #GenerativeAI

References: 

Christensen, C. M. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Harvard Business School Press.

Kanter, R. M. (2004). Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End. Crown Business.

Atkinson, R. (2000). The Adoption Age in Educational Technology. Educational Technology & Society, 3(4), 47-53.

Davenport, T. H. (2013). Process Innovation: Reengineering Work Through Information Technology. Harvard Business Review Press.

Schwartz, P. M. (2019). Information Privacy in the Cloud. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 162(6), 1623-1673.

Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. Jossey-Bass.