The Digital Transformation of Traditional Businesses by Angela Andal-Ancion et al - Article Example

The Digital Transformation of Traditional Businesses Name: Lecturer: Subject: Date: Introduction The new technology has revolutionized how business is undertaken lately according to Angеlа Andаl-Anсiоn et al. (2015). The digital transformation has enabled simple and fast accomplishment of more work with the help of a few employees. Companies have lately being in the forefront of innovating with the help of the digital technology. With the introduction of the mobile devices, social media, the analytics and other new technologies companies have been transformed on how they do business. Various companies have become “digital masters” when it comes to digital transformation. They have taken advantage of the new digital technology to transform their businesses to another level. For managers working in the traditional industries can be a challenge as posited by Angеlа Andаl-Anсiоn et al. (2015). The main challenge of these traditional managers is moving their mind-set beyond the traditional perspective to look out for good opportunities. Technology is very essential since it does not only do away with the existing routine work, but it also gives a chance for redesign the operations of your company. It also improves the safety of employees. Digital integration to the business also provides a good opportunity for integrating systems that involve centralized processes to improve quality and efficiency of the company. It also provides an opportunity for innovating. Kinds of businesses that use the new technology There are various businesses that have integrated the digital technology to their business. First the banking business has been in the forefront in using the new technology in their systems. Banking customers today are favouring the self-service over the traditional personal interaction. According to recent studies on the banking sector in the US, young adults aged between 20 to 30 years prefer to use the mobile banking instead of visiting the bank branch physically. The reason for this is that they consider interacting with human service representative very inconvenient and leads to the extra cost. Therefore to eliminate this they consider banking online (Victor E., 2001). Secondly, the automobiles industry uses the new technology. The business has transformed their consumer model to a direct one. Their dealers, however, perceive this as a threat to their commissions. Consider an example of the Volvo Car Corp., which has lately introduced direct customer services to its consumers using new apps and their in-car electronics. However, The Company hasn’t eliminated its dealers and involves them by sharing the customers’ data to the dealers. The company also assists customers for booking appointments with the dealers for the transaction of their new cars. Thirdly the tourist business has also integrated the new technology in their business. The industry has improved digital self-service environments for its customers. It is apparent that this has enhanced the customers experience with the industry. Consider an example where the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio has introduced a new digital app to their visitors. Visitors visiting the museum are encouraged to use a certain app that acts as a tour guide for them. The app provides a map of the museum. From the app, the management of the museum can gather feedback regarding their service thus boosting their customer satisfaction and the revenues they generate. Fourthly, the mining industry has also revolutionised with the introduction of the new technology. Technologies such as driverless trucks have made it possible to access underground areas that are potentially dangerous for workers in the mining industries. For example, Codelco, a mining company of copper based in Santiago, Chile has introduced the driverless technology to its operations. The mining can now access potentially dangerous zones that were not traditionally reachable. It can now be economically feasible to reach those zones since the copper ores can be accessed by the driverless trucks. Finally, businesses involved in selling of ads have also used the new technology. Consider an example where by the Pagesjaunes Company, which initially was selling ads in thick yellow print directories changed to selling their ads online. The company’s executives realised that using the traditional method of selling their ads was not viable with the introduction of Google and help and thus decided to venture into selling their ads online. The other businesses that are using the new technology include Burberry Group PLC, Airbnb, and, many others. Reasons for drivers of NIT There are various drivers that have led to the use of the New Information Technology (NIT) as explained in the article. First the need by customers for a “no touch” or “limited touch” experience. Since lately many customers simply want a no or limited interaction with human representatives of the organizations thus, they ought to introduce the NIT to resolve this (Victor E, 2001). Days are gone where by customers wanted human interaction to receive their desired services. Customers are finding it more convenient to interact with machines other than human representatives. Businesses have realized that a “no or limited touch” service delivery improves the customer satisfaction compared to the traditional representative-customer interaction. Nowadays, customers favour self-service other than the personal interaction when getting their desired services. They feel that self-service does lower not only extra costs but also is convenient. Companies have also taken the advantage of these self-service systems to get feedback concerning their services and products. They can interact directly with their clients. With the feedback, they can improve customer satisfaction and thus increasing the number of their clients for more revenue generation. The second driver for NIT is the need for automated operational systems. New automated systems that are more efficient are driving companies to move out of the traditional systems that involved manual dexterity, visual discrimination or even the verbal comprehension when taking part in business activities. Automation has been revolutionised with the introduction of the NIT. A good example is where by pharmacy automation is being used to fill pill bottles without errors. This technology has also been used to detect potentially harmful drugs to human beings. The self-driving technology, for instance, has been used by taxi services businesses mostly in the US and Europe thus improving productivity. Automation has not only replaced workers in various businesses but also increased their output by doing a fulfilling work. An example is when a company decides to use a self-service human resource technology, it will not only require less Human Resource workers but also will increase the satisfaction of its customers as found out by Erik Stolterman and Anna Croon, (2004). The third driver for NIT is the need by businesses to integrate centralized and de-centralized systems to improve efficiency and innovation. Nowadays managers need to integrate both centralised and de-centralised systems thus reducing long-term costs and risks involved in their businesses. There is a need for standardization when undertaking the business activities to improve production for generation of more revenue. Companies can integrate both centralized and decentralized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to build variations on their standard platform. This reduces the cost of maintenance and reduces the likelihood of messy data. With the introduction of smart mobile devices, collaboration platforms and the anticipated data analytics, executives of the various businesses can manage their organizations differently to improve efficiency and performance as posited by Erik Stolterman and Anna Croon, (2004). Finally, the need for strategic assets that are valuable to the current world is the other driver for the New Information Technology (NIT). The current world needs new strategic assets that are technology oriented in order to be viable with the current trends. However, this does not mean completely discarding the traditional strategic asset in favour of the new one. Managers are emphasised to consider analysing the viability of their assets to ascertain whether they will keep value or not in the future (Phillip A et al., 2015). Consider an example where by Pagesjaunes (a French yellow company) realized that selling the traditional physical yellow print directories was not viable with the digital era and redirected towards online digital services of selling ads. The company (Pagesjaunes) ramped up its digital revenues compared to the physical revenues it was making. Therefore, companies need to evaluate the viability of the future of the products (Phillip A et al., 2015). However it does not simply mean discarding the old strategic assets but it can involve combination of both digital and physical assets for maximum output as seen in the Burberry Group PLC company which is London based (Victor E., 2001). Usefulness of Meditation Strategies There is various usefulness attached to meditation strategies as seen in the article that the authors are researching. The first usefulness that the authors are researching is simplifying (Phillip A et al., 2015). According to them it is very essential to simplify the self-services for customers whether it is exchanging information or even the consumer journey. Social channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn or even content over the YouTube would simplify how the customers get information regarding the products or services of the business (Erik Stolterman and Anna Croon, 2004). Secondly meditation strategies will make it possible to quantify the results of the various digital businesses. Results show whether marketing campaigns are bearing fruits or not. Finance teams ought to get a way to quantify their results to ascertain whether they are proceeding to the right direction or not (Jeff Charles, 2003). Various indicators can be used for quantification such as the number of downloads and many others. Thirdly, meditation strategies are very important in reflecting the results of the daily behaviour of business. Managers of business ought to reflect “what worked” and “what did not work in order” to know areas that need to be improved (Jeff Charles, 2003). Fourthly, the other use of meditation strategy is sharing. Meditation strategies enable it possible to share various business accomplishments with the community and get some feedbacks on some things to improve in the business. For online business platform, it is of much essence to provide an opportunity to share their experiences with the business as demonstrated by Victor E., (2001). Social media channels are very efficient in the maintenance of engagement and thus improving the brand experience. Finally, meditation strategy helps in increasing engagement concerning the business enterprise. There is a need for business to not only engage the marketers with information regarding supply chain, finance but also the wider community in order to increase the campaign investment of the company as explained by Ramanujam, (2009). Conclusion Digital transformation has made it possible to link directly with the customers. New databases have been harnessed with the introduction of IT analytic to help access additional information regarding the customers (Jeff Charles, 2003). Due to the technological advancement there is a need for businesses to incorporate digital technology in their systems to sustain their businesses and also maintain their competitive advantage. References Art & Computers: an exploratory investigation on the digital transformation of art. PH.D. thesis, published in Cyber Flux News, July 1997, and in the Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, Digital literacies: concepts, policies and practices By Colin Lankshear, Michele Knobel, 2008, p. 173 Digital medicine: implications for healthcare leaders, by Jeff Charles Goldsmith, 2003, Digital Transformation: A Roadmap for Billion-Dollar Organization (PDF) (Report). Capgemini Consulting. 2011. Digital transformation: the essentials of e-business leadership, by Keyur Patel, Mary Pat McCarthy, 2000, E-government in Canada: transformation for the digital age article By Jeffrey Roy, 2006, Erik Stolterman, Anna Croon Fors, "Information TEchnology and the Good Life", in: "Information systems research: relevant theory and informed practice", 2004, , p. 689 Ramanujam, (2009)Mass Communication And Its Digital Transformation,-article. Victor E. ,Taylor, Charles E. Winquist, Digital Transformation: London and New York, Routledge, 2001. Тhе digitаl trаnsfоrmаtiоn оf trаditiоnаl businеssеs- аuthоrs: Angеlа Andаl-Anсiоn, Philliр A. Саrtwright & Gеоrgе s.-Yiр аrtiсlе-2015 Read More