Organizational Change: The Key to Digital Transformation
Highlights
To become more agile and resilient, companies across industries are implementing digital transformation initiatives using increasingly sophisticated technologies.
However, the majority of these digital transformation initiatives fail to deliver the expected results, and research consistently shows that organizational issues — not technology — are often the problem.
Prime 8 Consulting helps companies address underlying organizational challenges, delivering the business strategy that makes the essential link between strategic vision and practical execution.
As the pace of change in business accelerates dramatically, companies looking to succeed are increasingly focused on business strategies that encompass digital transformation: using technologies such as the cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) to become more agile and resilient in managing change and creating flexibility in their business models.
While achieving digital transformation may start by addressing specific technology needs, many enterprises have learned the hard way that the process also requires a serious commitment to organizational change. Companies that are inflexible and unable to bend with disruptions are likely to see results fall short of expectations.
At Prime 8, we help companies address the underlying organizational issues, making the essential link between strategic vision and practical execution that’s critical to the success of any digital transformation journey and leading the way to more resilient, more flexible, more adaptable companies.
Keeping Up With the Rapid Pace of Digital Transformation
While technology was once used simply to automate business processes and make them more efficient, we now use it to fundamentally transform these processes by:
Changing where, when, and how they take place
Making them more flexible and adaptable to ever-evolving business requirements
Delivering personalized experiences to individual employees and customers
Creating feedback loops to support continuous improvement
Achieving new levels of operational efficiency
Encouraging an ongoing culture of innovation and experimentation to develop new products, services, and business models enabled by digital technologies
These are all aspects of the phenomenon of digital transformation that is playing out across the business landscape in industry after industry. Companies that don’t keep up find it increasingly more difficult to remain competitive.
Organizational Barriers to Digital Transformation
As these use cases suggest, digital transformation is a multi-faceted undertaking that works on many levels and impacts different industries and stakeholders in different ways. Getting the technology right is just one piece of the puzzle. As numerous studies and case studies have demonstrated, real transformation can only occur when there is a clear focus on resolving the underlying organizational issues, such as:
Lack of direction: According to an article by BuildingBetterSoftware, 70% of digital transformations fail, and the main culprit is the absence of clear objectives. As Avi Shua, CEO of Orca Security, emphasizes, “Organizations need to understand what the key areas of focus are and what they are trying to achieve from the business point of view — be it reducing costs, or being more Agile or being more secure.”
Resistance to change: One of the most common barriers to digital transformation is resistance to change, particularly when it comes to adopting new tools and technologies. This resistance can manifest in various ways and often stems from a fear of how the new systems will impact daily routines and a lack of training.
Inefficient data management: Data is fundamental to digital transformation, influencing customer insights and future buying decisions. However, efficient data management is complex. Companies often lack the expertise for organizing data and designing a system for storing and retrieving it.
Lack of understanding of impact: A University of Waterloo case study of digital transformation took a specific look at the introduction of IoT technology to make processes smarter and more efficient. It found that while the performance benefits of the technology were never in doubt, properly preparing employees for the potential impacts and requirements was the most important factor in achieving success.
Technology overload: Today’s organizations are faced with an extensive array of technological options. From software platforms to tools designed for specific functions, the choices are vast and often bewildering. Without a well-thought-out strategy, companies may find themselves lost in the sea of options, with tools that aren’t fully implemented or adopted, leading to poor decisions that don't align with their business needs.
Consulting Services for Organizational Change
The organizational barriers to successful digital transformation are complex, but the challenges aren’t insurmountable. By engaging experienced consultants, organizations can gain access to specialized expertise and unbiased insights tailored to their unique needs.
Consultants can help identify the underlying organizational issues, develop strategic plans, facilitate communication, and provide training to ensure a smooth transition. They can also assist in selecting the right technologies that align with the company's goals and culture.
As these use cases and studies have shown, real transformation requires a holistic approach that goes beyond technology. With the right focus on organizational issues and the guidance of skilled consultants, the path to successful digital transformation becomes not only clearer but achievable.
Prime 8’s Approach to Digital Transformation
When we’re engaged to address underlying organizational issues impacting any digital strategy, we typically conduct assessments on several levels, including:
Operational assessment and analysis. By taking advantage of process mapping, data analysis, performance measurement, and other tools, we identify ways to optimize operations moving forward. Often this entails reconstructing business and operating models on top of digital foundations.
Optimizing technology implementation. This involves analyzing how technology solutions are being used to improve operational efficiency and support best practices in business intelligence.
Skill and expertise gaps. We implement training and development solutions to address gaps in skills and expertise that are critical to a successful digital transformation initiatives.
Agile methodologies: We use Agile approaches to project management — breaking projects into small, manageable tasks that can be completed in short increments rather than a single final deliverable.
Change management: We help project managers manage resistance to change, communicate effectively, and drive successful adoption of new processes and systems.
Continuous improvement: We standardize repeatable processes to aid and inform future projects.
Our approach to digital transformation is comprehensive and tailored to meet the unique needs of each organization. These assessment tools help us ensure that the essential link between strategic vision and practical execution is firmly established. Our multifaceted strategy fosters a more resilient and adaptable business model, positioning our clients for success in their digital transformation initiatives.
Digital Transformation Success Stories
RESTORING THE “RHYTHM OF BUSINESS” WITH BETTER WORKPLACE COLLABORATION TOOLS
These research findings are consistent with what Prime 8 consultants discover across many of our client engagements. For example, we worked with a global software giant that, after years of growth and steady investment in underlying technology processes, discovered that its rhythm of business was off, impacting performance and its ability to successfully complete new initiatives.
When we were engaged to maximize business results for this client, we uncovered a series of issues that were primarily organizational:
Leaders worked in silos
Conflicting projects
Communication channels that failed to scale
Outdated tools
We set about implementing strategies that would help build a foundation for sustained growth. This included the introduction of value-delivery capabilities, such as project management skills and workplace collaboration technologies. With these new tools, the company now has a repeatable planning system that continues to foster innovation, growth, and consistent outcomes.
UPSKILLING A GLOBAL SALES TEAM WITH VIRTUAL TRAINING
In another case, we consulted with a multinational technology provider that develops workplace collaboration solutions that businesses can use to increase the accessibility of their employees. Over time, our client discovered it had done a great job of developing the technology but a poor job of educating its employees on how to have accessibility conversations with customers. We were asked to help them create an engaging way to upskill their global sales team.
Our solution was to design and develop a Virtual Academy, an eight-part 200-level MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) learning experience. The MOOC-hosted academy was available to employee learners across the globe from nearly any device and featured sophisticated capabilities that drove both learner engagement and outcomes.
MODERNIZING AN OUTDATED BUDGET SYSTEM
When we were engaged by a prominent Fortune 500 client to tackle the challenges of poor data access and disjointed budget planning, we employed an analytics-driven strategy to pinpoint communication failures and critically assess existing procedures.
The outcome was a modernized budget management system that resulted in a remarkable decrease in budget reporting variance to forecast, shrinking to a mere 0.04%. This innovative approach revitalized the client's business management and instituted transparent, uniform budget supervision across the entire organization.
Ready to Get Started?
Digital transformation isn’t a one-time process — it’s an ongoing journey. The traditional advice to start small — testing, gathering feedback, and refining — is crucial to its success. So is remaining flexible and open to adjustments. It’s not the roadblocks and challenges that will determine success or failure, but how you deal with them.
Let’s find the right path for your digital transformation journey. Contact Prime 8 today.
