Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

Organizational change management is about changing the way that people think and behave — in that order. Unfortunately, change management programs that are begun after the digital transformation has been designed focus primarily on behavioral change. They neglect to engage people in changing their mindset and way of thinking. Any behavioral change that is not preceded by a change in thinking will not last. As soon as the pressure is off, as soon as managers turn their backs, people will revert to the way they’ve always done things. And the way they’ve always done things is ­continually reinforced by the organizational culture.

This Executive Update describes six leadership strategies essential to successful Lean-Agile transformation, together with one bonus strategy (the “+1”). All seven strategies describe patterns observed across a range of organizations in the public and private sectors. They and their accompanying pitfalls highlight the need for a number of specific leadership behaviors.

This wave of digitization is fundamentally rewriting the rules of competition across industries: the charac­teristics that made firms successful in the past are not the same characteristics that distinguish winners from losers in the digital era. One of these fundamental changes is the steadily increasing importance of innovation and continuous improvement. Research shows that the more digital an industry becomes, the more rapid the speed of change in the industry. There is no such thing as a sustained competitive advantage in the digital era. However, digitization does not only create challenges for actors in affected industries. Digitization in itself also provides the keys to tackling the changing competitive dynamics. Because most firms still do not leverage the opportunities, the quickest ones to learn how to exploit them will be the ones that come out on top. 

The business value of consumer analytics and big data is not just about what you can discover or infer about the consumer, but how you can use this insight promptly and effectively across multiple touchpoints (including e-commerce systems and CRM) to create a powerful and truly personalized consumer experience. In this article, I will explore how the concept of information superiority interacts with the concept of customer centricity. I will look at three modes of information superiority: conventional, adaptive, and collaborative. 

“Digital capital” is a newer phrase and a newer concept. Obviously, it includes tangible assets like hardware and software that show up on balance sheets, but in today’s environment, it can and should include so much more — if not explicitly on a GAAP-approved balance sheet, then at least in how we think about investments. I would suggest that information be cited very explicitly as digital capital, but not just any information. 

In this issue of Cutter Business Technology Journal, we have asked our authors to share their thoughts related to two concepts: information superiority and digital capital. Our assumption was that these concepts are particularly relevant to business leaders, who are right to believe that “digital” and “hypercompetition” are the “new normal” in business. 

Traditional banks, big tech firms, and new fintech startup ventures are the three major players that together will help shape the new financial services landscape. Are they all going to compete? Not necessarily! We are already seeing the first forms of collaboration between these different players materialize.

In this on-demand webinar, you'll discover the strategic and tactical opportunities made possible by Digital Data Streams and the opportunities for improved customer experience made possible by DDS.