Page 59 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2020

TOWARD A TYPOLOGY OF “GOING DIGITAL”

1
Cheng Gong ; Vincent Ribiere 1
1 Institute for Knowledge and Innovation Southeast Asia, Bangkok University

ABSTRACT paper attempts to illustrate how digital transformation occurs
with a proposed typology from a change management
With the development of digital technologies, the lines perspective.
defining traditional industries are blurring. However, there
is still a lack of a standard or shared common understanding Typologies identify and classify multiple types of a
of digital transformation in terms of its nature and content, particular phenomenon of interest. Each type represents a
change process, underlying mechanisms, and desired unique combination of attributes that are believed to
outcomes as they are still under-specified. To build a determine the relevant outcomes [3]. Establishing a DT
common ground for choosing and using appropriate typology is useful in classifying similar terms with different
approaches to manage the “going digital” journey, this transformation outcomes. It allows organizations to choose
paper attempts to illustrate how digital transformation appropriate approaches to successfully embarking and
occurs with a proposed typology from a change management managing their “going digital” journey. On the contrary, a
perspective based on the cross-case analysis of 103 vague classification and inconsistent use of similar terms
organizational case studies, and to clarify the essential may lead to various strategizing and organizing activities [4]
attributes of an (organizational) digital transformation and subconsciously, triggering different disciplines in research
how they can be classified into four different types: and influencing practice [5]. As a result, in recent years,
digitalization, digital mutation, digital metamorphosis, and organizations have spent more time and money, but the
digital transformation. success rate for DT remains consistently low: estimated less
than 30% [6]. A staggering 60 to 80% of DT efforts [7] hit
Keywords – Change, digitalization, digital transformation, roadblocks and fail since people talk at cross purposes. It is
organization, strategy, typology imperative for an organization to have a clear and shared
understanding of the change process in terms of DT’s
1. INTRODUCTION underlying mechanisms, and its desired outcomes. Thus, this
paper focuses more on the “how” of digital transformation
With the fast expansion of digital technologies (e.g., IoT, AI, (i.e., the way DT occurs) and attempts to explain how
robotics, cloud computing, mobile and social media, 3D changes are initiated and how organizations respond to them.
printing, advanced data analytics, blockchain, AR/VR, etc.), The main research question for this study is as follows: What
the lines defining traditional industries are blurring. The rate are the main triggering factors of an (organizational) digital
of change is increasing, and the time between periods of transformation, and how can they be classified into types?
discontinuity is decreasing [1]. Digital transformation (DT)
is a complex undertaking due to its nature of fundamental 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
change. In recent years, it has been one of the buzzwords
attracting substantial attention from both academia and Digital technologies have opened up game-changing
practitioner communities. However, unlike well-established opportunities for significantly improving core business
fields (e.g., organizational change, information activities and processes, efficiency gains, and customer
management), there is still a lack of a standard or shared intimacy while enabling direct exchanges among
common understanding of DT in terms of its content and participants of a value network [8]. They can equally
process as it is still under-specified. This research builds on potentially provide existential threats to ensure security and
our prior research [2] where we developed a unified privacy. According to Kurt Lewin’s force field theory [9],
definition of DT based on the analysis of 134 DT definitions changes only come by upsetting the balance of opposing
to provide insights into the core defining primitives of DT forces in an organization. However, with the diffusion of
and linguistic clarity to differentiate it from other related digital technologies that accumulates competitive milieus, it
terms. Our unified DT definition is: “A fundamental change is hard for most organizations, operating within a dynamic
process, enabled by the innovative use of digital technologies environment, to stay still and to ignore the emerging
accompanied by the strategic leverage of key resources and opportunities and threats driven by digital technologies. DT
capabilities, aiming to radically improve an entity [e.g., an widens organizations’ attention to broader networks of actors
organization, a business network, an industry, or society] and in the business landscape on knowledge flows, co-evolution,
redefine its value proposition for its stakeholders”. This network dynamics, and interaction. It differs from the

978-92-61-31391-3/CFP2068P @ ITU 2020 – 1 – Kaleidoscope